
Class 

Book__.. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

THE CONQUEROR 

SENATOR NORTH 

THE ARISTOCRATS 

PATIENCE SPARHAWK AND HER TIMES 

AMERICAN WIVES AND ENGLISH HUSBANDS 

HIS FORTUNATE GRACE 

CALIFORNIA SERIES 

THE SPLENDID IDLE FORTIES 

THE DOOMSWOMAN 

THE VALIANT RUNAWAYS: A BOOK FOR BOYS 

A DAUGHTER OF THE VINE 

THE CALIFORNIANS 

A WHIRL ASUNDER 




^--^^^-^^^^t-^...-.--^ - 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S 
LETTERS 



INCLUDING HIS DESCRIPTION OF 

THE GREAT WEST INDIAN 

HURRICANE OF 1772 



EDITED BY 

GERTRUDE ATHERTON 

AUTHOR OF " THE CONQUEROR," " THE SPLENDID IDLE FORTIES " 
ETC., ETC. 



WITH PORTRAITS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1903 

All rights reserved 



H?; 



G 



THE LIbRAKY OF 
CONCiRtSS, 

Two Copies Received 

FEB 24 1903 

Cop/.ight Entry 

CLASS C\ XXc. No 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1903, 

By the macmillan company. 



Set up and electrotyped February, 1903. 



NortDooli ?|KBa 

J. 8. Cashing & Co. — Berwick it Smith 

Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 






CAPTAIN WILLIAM RAMSING 

OF DENMARK 

anlJ 
THE REVEREND W. C. WATSON 

OF ST. CROIX, DANISH WEST INDIES 

FROM WHOM I HAVE RECEIVED INVALUABLE HELP 
IN MY RESEARCHES 



INTRODUCTION 

Hamilton's entire correspondence, exclusive of 
his state papers, pamphlets, etc., fills three octavo 
volumes. Much of it is uninteresting to-day to 
any but a student of the past, and will never be 
approached by the general reader. Taken as a 
whole, the letters form almost a history of the times, 
but that history has been written more than once 
in a manner to require less effort on the part of 
the temperately inquiring mind. This selection 
has been made with a view to throw as much light 
as possible on the mayi. They reveal him in many 
of his moods, and although they have not, in every 
case, the high literary quality peculiar to his great 
reports and pamphlets, a few, the letter to Laurens, 
describing the capture and death of Andre, for 
instance, could hardly be improved upon. The 
letter to Duane is the most remarkable; and even 
by those to whom at first glance it may appear very 
long and very dry, it will well repay a careful study, 
— not only because in it a young man of twenty- 
three first hewed the foundation stones of a great 



viii INTRODUCTION 

Republic, but because it throws many side-lights on 
the workings of Hamilton's mind and character. 
In it, indeed, are to be found indications of every 
part of the immediate and future Hamilton, with 
the sole exception of that not inconsiderable spot 
which was more than responsive to the other sex. 

Those who would fill in the spaces which exist 
necessarily between the letters of this little collec- 
tion, will find the missing links in the first, fifth, 
and sixth volumes of " The Works of Alexander 
Hamilton," J. C. Hamilton edition. They are in 
every public library. Those so fortunate as to 
possess the Lodge edition are not in need of 
instructions. 

The letters to the Provincial Congress are to be 
found in the Journal of that body. 

The letter to James Hamilton, Jr., and the cor- 
respondence with Burr are contained in the last 
pages of the " History of the Republic." The 
correspondence of Washington with Hamilton and 
Jefferson, regarding the battle in the Gazettes 
between the Secretaries, is copied from the tenth 
volume of Sparks' " Writings of George Wash- 
ington." 

The several letters to Hamilton, scattered through 



INTRODUCTION ix 

this volume, are Introduced for too obvious reasons 
to require explanation. 

If Hamilton kept his love-letters, some true 
friend suppressed them after his death. But, rea- 
soning from the well-known honour and wariness 
of his character, it is more than likely that he 
destroyed all such effusions promptly. But where 
are those he himself wrote ? Not one to a woman 
but his wife has ever come to light. Had they out- 
lasted him a generation they would have been bought 
or stolen by his enemies, and flung to the public 
long since. Perhaps he never wrote any. When 
a man has the brain thoroughly to appreciate his 
weakness for woman he is often very careful of 
himself on paper. And Hamilton's short life was a 
phenomenally busy one. It is a wonder he ever 
found time to make love ; the inditing pf his sen- 
timents must surely have seemed superfluous. But 
his annual receipts must have been heavy. 

The reviewers of " The Conqueror " have accused 
me of too much enthusiasm, which, logically, they 
decide has led to a violent partisanship and much 
one-sidedness. Probably no reviewer living has 
any enthusiasm left in him, — small blame to him, 
— and it is one of the peculiar weaknesses of human 



X INTRODUCTION 

nature to disapprove of what we do not possess. 
Thus the poor disapprove of wealth, the timid of 
audacity, the failures of success. A biography with- 
out enthusiasm is a very poor thing. You may get 
the bald facts, a calm dispassionate estimate, correct 
if the writer be infallible ; but none of the glow and 
rush ; and without those qualities you do not care 
as much for the character and fate of the subject as 
for the living and hitherto nameless hero of a news- 
paper story. To remark that to do a thing thor- 
oughly is better than to do it halfway, would seem a 
lapse into flagrant platitude, yet it is a truism which 
is oftenest forgot by critics. I wrote of Hamilton, 
not because I was anxious to create a prodigy, but 
because he was one and compelled my enthusiasm. 
That he was the best brain that has given his 
services to this country no profound and impartial 
student of history pretends to deny. Even the 
biographers of Jefferson pay their tribute. But 
because the great majority of critics are unac- 
quainted with American history, they accuse me 
of wrongfully elevating Hamilton at the expense 
of his contemporaries. If he was not greater, why, 
pray, did the entire Federalist party — composed of 
exceptionally brilliant, sensible, and patriotic men 



INTRODUCTION xi 

— spontaneously follow his lead for a quarter of a 
century ? Why did his rivals hate him as no man 
has been hated in the history of this country? 
The truth is that I did not exaggerate in a single 
instance, and, what is more, I exhibited his faults 
and weaknesses with considerable pleasure. No 
man can be either great or lovable without them, 
and had Hamilton been the dull perfection which 
even the much misrepresented Washington was 
not, he would have had to pass on and submit 
once more to the biographer without enthusiasm. 

G. A. 

F.S. — Since writing the above, I have, through 
the kind offices of a friend, Captain William Ram- 
sing of the Danish Army, obtained a copy of Ham- 
ilton's description of the hurricane of August, 1772. 
It will be remembered that it was this piece of liter- 
ary work, published in a West Indian newspaper, 
which convinced his relatives and friends that he 
deserved the education he craved, and incidentally 
gave him to us. Until Captain Ramsing discovered 
it, it is doubtful if it had been read for a century' 
and a quarter. All John Hamilton knew was the 
bare fact that his father had written it and attributed 



xii INTRODUCTION 

to its happy inspiration his real start in Hfe ; he 
made no effort to find a copy of the old newspaper, 
and Hamilton evidently had not preserved one. 
This curious document is interesting and valuable in 
many ways : it is probably the only existing descrip- 
tion of the greatest hurricane, with the exception of 
the one of 1899, which ever visited the West In- 
dies ; it is addressed to his father, which shows that 
he was in affectionate correspondence with James 
Hamilton at that time ; it is the production of a 
youth of sixteen ; and above all it throws a new 
light on both the workings of Hamilton's mind and 
the development of his literary talent at that age. 
Strange a mixture as it is of dramatic power, a 
somewhat excessive piety, and literary self-con- 
sciousness, it is a remarkable production, for it re- 
veals an original mind striving to express itself 
through the trammels of certain standards and 
formulae which he had evidently accepted as the 
correct models for the young man of literary aspi- 
rations. Fortunately he was not long throwing off 
trammels of all sorts, with the exception of the 
temperate precision and clearness of the best eigh- 
teenth-century literature. 

It will be observed that the hurricane took place 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

at night. Mine, alas ! began in the early morning 

— and hailed from the southeast.^ But there was 
absolutely no authority to consult, and I was obliged 
to construct this almost forgotten phenomenon from 
the abundant data of the equally tremendous hurri- 
cane of 1899. Although I knew that lightning 
and thunder sometimes accompany these great wind 
storms, I omitted this manifestation from my de- 
scription lest I strain the credulity of the Anglo- 
Saxon reader, always prone to scent exaggeration. 
It will now be seen that I did indeed " draw it 
mild," for Hamilton's hurricane had falling me- 
teors, the most terrific accompaniment of lightning 
and thunder, and a prevailing smell of gunpowder, 

— which must, in sooth, have added to the alarms 
of the undevout. 

The first two books of " The Conqueror," as 
stated in the preface to that book, must always 
stand as imaginative work based upon the discovery 
of a few most important facts. But all details had 
to be imagined or omitted. I was quite well aware 
that if Hamilton's description of this hurricane ever 

^ Where West Indian hurricanes usually form. This hurricane of 
1772, unless Hamilton was mistaken, probably formed in the Gulf 
of Mexico. 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

came to light it would be in many respects different 
from mine ; but the searcher I employed in Copen- 
hagen while writing the book proves now to have 
been worthless, and I had to go ahead or ignore the 
subject. I was not in the least alarmed by the dan- 
ger of eventually disproving any description of my 
own; for he who is afraid of making mistakes draws 
only the small prizes of life. There was no possi- 
bility of mistake after Hamilton came to this coun- 
try, for the record of his life from 1772 on is as 
open and full as could be wished ; but there is 
undoubtedly more and more to learn in the archives 
of Copenhagen concerning those early years on St. 
Croix ; and when the search is exhausted I shall 
give the result to the world. 

It will also be noticed that Hamilton's letter was 
published on St. Croix. I had it sent to St. Kitts, 
as I was given to understand that there was no 
English newspaper on St. Croix at that time. I 
read all the books ever written on these Islands (in 
English), but found no mention of newspapers. 

Almost immediately after sending off the above 
postscript to the printer I received from Captain 
Ramsing information of the most important nature. 



INTRODUCTION xv 

It corroborates the scant data I found in the West 
Indian records, and dispels conclusively any mys- 
tery which may still be thought to surround Ham- 
ilton's birth. The information is taken from The 
Protocol of the Dealing Court in Christianstadt 
for the year 1768. The date is the third of Au- 
gust. (These records of the Dealing Court are 
in the Provincial Archives of Iceland, — which are 
nevertheless in Copenhagen.) Previous entries of 
this year deal with debts of Rachael Lawien,^ de- 
ceased ; also the following : " Daniel Barry claims 
payment of 71 rixd. 4 reals, for furnishing linen 
and black cloth, which he has supplied for the 
funeral of the Deceased according to Peter Lytton's 
orders, who, being of the family of the Deceased, 
undertook to furnish same." 

The entry which most concerns us, however, fur- 
nishes the following facts : John Michael Lawien 
had been, on St. Croix, by the " Ember " Court,^ 
granted a divorce from Rachael Lawien on the 
25th of June, 1759. He was permitted to marry 
again, but she, being the defendant, was not. At 

^ For the orthographic vagaries of this name, see Appendix. 
^ A clerical court which met on the fom- Ember days. The Gov- 
ernor-general of the Danish West Indies presided. 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

her death she possessed several slaves which she 
left to her sons, Al/exander and James Hamilton. 
John Michael Lawien made application for these 
slaves in behalf of her " only lawfully begotten heir 
Peter Lawien." Peter Lytton seems to have been 
appointed guardian of the young Hamiltons. La- 
wien subsequently won his suit. 

One-half of Lawien's divorce complaint is here 
quoted to have been that Rachael "absented her- 
self," i.e. deserted him. This bears out Hamilton's 
own statement that his mother left Lawien soon 
after her marriage (because of ill-treatment). There 
is no evidence that she was unfaithful to Lawien 
while under his roof, or even that she deserted him 
to live with Hamilton. It is certain that she was 
living with her mother on St. Kitts in 1756. This 
fact is established by the Common Records of 
that island. As she was only thirty-two when she 
died (see fac-simile of page from church register, 
photographed for the present pastor, Mr. Watson), 
she was at this time only twenty, and must have 
been sixteen or less when she married Lawien. 
We have Hamilton's statement that she was forced 
into a hated marriage by her mother. I based my 
story on Hamilton's own, and it is not likely that 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

anything will be found to disprove it. Hamilton 
appears to have been a man who told the truth 
on a given subject or discreetly held his tongue. 
Moreover, my own discoveries bear out all his 
statements. 

He and his brother James evidently bore their 
father's name from the first. Rachael's alliance 
with James Hamilton was, beyond all doubt, an 
accepted social fact in the Islands. Alliances of 
that sort continued to bask in the approval of tropi- 
cal society during many years of the nineteenth 
century. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



To Edward Stevens. From St. Croix 3 

To TiLEMAN Cruger. The same 4 

To Captain William Newton. The same .... 7 

To THE Provincial Congress 11 

To THE Provincial Congress 14 

From Hugh Knox. St. Croix 15 

P'rom Washington. Concerning the mission to Gates . . 17 

To Washington. The same 20 

To Gates. The same 25 

To Washington. The same 27 

To Washington. The same 32 

To Washington. The same 35 

From Washington. The same 37 

From Hugh Knox. St. Croix 38 

To Otho H. Williams 42 

From Colonel Fleury 42 

From John Laurens * . 43 

From Laurens 46 

From Laurens 48 

To Laurens . . i 49 

To Laurens. The Andrd letter 52 

To Miss Schuyler 71 

To Miss Schuyler 73 

To Miss Schuyler 74 

To the Hon. James Duane 77 

To General Schuyler 112 

To Mrs. Hamilton 117 

From Colonel Harrison 121 

xix 



XX CONTENTS 

PAGE 

To Meade 125 

To Laurens 127 

To Meade 129 

To Greene. Containing the allusion to Peter Lavine . . 132- 

To Lafayette 134 

To James Hamilton, Jr 136 

To Mrs. Hamilton . . . 138 

From Lafayette 139 

From Washington 140 

To Washington 142 

To Lafayette 147 

From Gulian Verplanck 150 

To DuER . . . : 151 

From Washington. Concerning the troubles in the Cabinet . 152 

To Washington. The same 155 

Jefferson to Washington. The same 160 

From James Hamilton 176 

To 178 

To Mrs. Greene 179 

From M'Henry 185 

To Theodore Sedgwick 186 

To Rufus King 187 

From Edward Stevens 189 

From Greenleaf 190 

To Greenleaf 192 

To Oliver Wolcott 193 

To Sedgwick 194 

To Hamilton of Grange 196 

From Washington 202 

To Washington 203 

To THE Secretary of the Navy. Concerning Alexander 

Hamilton's cousin, Robert Hamilton 204 

From Pickering. Concerning the command of the army in the 

expected war with France 205 



CONTENTS xxi 



PAGE 



From Pickering. The same 207 

To Washington 209 

To King 210 

From A. Hamilton . 212 

From Pickering 216 

To Pinckney. Concerning Washington's death . , . 217 

To Mrs. Washington. The same 218 

To Bayard. Concerning Burr . . . . . . .219 

To Mrs. Hamilton 229 

From Gouverneur Morris 229 

To Lafayette 231 

To King 233 

To Wolcott 238 

To Morris 241 

To C. C. Pinckney 242 

From Lafayette 244 

From Governor Walsterstorff. St. Croix .... 246 
To Talleyrand. Regarding Hamilton's cousin, Alexander 

Hamilton 247 

From Burr. The correspondence before the duel . . . 251 

To Burr. The same 251 

From Burr. The same . . . . . . . . 255 

To Burr. The same 256 

To Sedgwick 257 

APPENDIX 

Photograph of page of Church Register of Christiansted, St. 

Croix, D.W.L, containing Interment Notice of Rachael 

Levine facing 260 

Hamilton's Letter to his Father describing the Great Hurricane 

of August, 1772 261 

Deed of Separation between John and Mary Fawcett of Nevis, 

B.W.I ; maternal grandparents of Alexander Hamilton . 269 

Doggerel Verses popular after Hamilton's death . . . 275 



I 

ST. CROIX 



L 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

To EDWARD STEVENS 

St. Croix, November ii, 1769. 

Dear Edward, — This serves to acknowledge 
the receipt of yours per Captain Lowndes, which 
was deUvered me yesterday. The truth of Cap- 
tain Lightbowen and Lowndes' information is 
now verified by the presence of your father and 
sister, for whose safe arrival I pray, and that they 
may convey that satisfaction to your soul, that 
must naturally flow from the sight of absent 
friends in health ; and shall for news this way 
refer you to them. 

As to what you say, respecting your soon hav- 
ing the happiness of seeing us all, I wish for an 
accomplishment of your hopes, provided they are 
concomitant with your welfare, otherwise not ; 
though doubt whether I shall be present or not, 
for to confess my weakness, Ned, my ambition is 
prevalent, so that I contemn the grovelling con- 
dition of a clerk, or the like, to which my fortune 

3 



4 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

condemns me, and would willingly risk my life, 
though not my character, to exalt my station. I 
am confident, Ned, that my youth excludes me 
from any hope of immediate preferment, nor do I 
desire it ; but I mean to prepare the way for 
futurity. I'm no philosopher, you see, and may 
be justly said to build castles in the air ; my folly 
makes me ashamed, and beg you'll conceal it ; 
yet, Neddy, we have seen such schemes success- 
ful, when the projector is constant. I shall con- 
clude by saying I wish there was a war. 
I am, dear Edward, 
Yours, 

Alex. Hamilton. 

P.S. I this moment received yours by William 
Smith, and pleased to see you give such close 
application to study. 



To TILEMAN CRUGER ) i) 

St. Croix, Nov. i6, 1771. 

In behalf of Mr. Nicolas Cruger (who, by reason 
of a very ill state of health, went from this to 
New York the 15 th ult.), I have the pleasure to 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 5 

address you by the long expected sloop, Thunder- 
bolt, Captain William Newton, owned by Messrs. 
Jacob Walton, John Harris, and Nicolas Cruger, 
the latter of whom has written you fully concern- 
ing her destination, which I need not repeat. She 
has on board besides a parcel of lumber for your- 
self, sundry articles on account of her owners as 
per enclosed bill of lading; and when you have 
disposed of them you will please to credit each 
partner with one third of the proceeds. 

Mr. N. Cruger's proportion of this, and the bal- 
ance of your account hitherto, will more than pay 
for his one third cost of her first cargo up ; and 
for the other two, I shall endeavour to place value 
in your hands betimes. I only wish for a line 
from you to know what will best answer. 

Reports here represent matters in a very dis- 
agreeable light, with regard to the Guarda Costas, 
which are said to swarm upon the coast ; but as 
you will be the best judge of what danger there 
might be, all is submitted to your prudent direc- 
tion. 

Capt. Newton must arm with you, as he could 
not so conveniently do it here. Give me leave 
to hint to you that you cannot be too particular 



6 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

in your instructions to him. I think he seems to 
want experience in such voyages. Messrs. Walton 
and John H. Cruger are to furnish you themselves 
with their respective proportion of the cost of the 
several cargoes. 

The staves on board, if by any means conven- 
ient, I beg may be returned by the sloop; they 
will command a good price liere, and I suppose 
little or nothing with you ; could they be got at 
I would not send them down, but they are stowed 
promiscuously among other things. 

If convenient, please to deliver the hogsheads, 
now containing the Indian meal, to the captain 
as water casks, and others should he want them. 
I supplied him with twenty here. I must beg 
your reference to Mr. Cruger's last letter of the 
2d ult. for other particulars. 

Our crop will be very early, so that the utmost 
dispatch is necessary to import three cargoes of 
mules in due time. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



To CAPTAIN WILLIAM NEWTON 

St. Croix, Nov. i6, 1771. 

Herewith I give you all your dispatches, and 
desire you will proceed immediately to Curracoa. 
You are to deliver your cargo there to Tileman 
Cruger, Esq., agreeably to your bill of lading, 
whose directions you must follow in every respect 
concerning the disposal of your vessel after your 
arrival. 

You know it is intended that you shall go from 
thence to the main for a load of mules, and I 
must beg if you do, you'll be very choice in the 
quality of your mules, and bring as many as your 
vessel can conveniently contain — by all means take 
in a large supply of provender. Remember, you 
are to make three trips this season, and unless 
you are very diligent you will be too late, as our 
crops will be early in. Take care to avoid the 
Guarda Costas. I place an entire reliance upon 
the prudence of your conduct. 



II 

THE ARMY 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS ii 



To THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS 

1776. 
Gentlemen^ — I take the liberty to request your 
attention to a few particulars which will be of 
considerable importance to the future progress of 
the company under my command, and I will be 
much obliged to you for as speedy a determina- 
tion concerning them as you can conveniently 
give. The most material is respecting the pay. 
Our company, by their articles, are to be subject 
to the same regulations, and to receive the same 
pay as the Continental artillery. Hitherto I have 
conformed to the standard laid down in the 
Journal of the Congress published the loth May, 
1775, but I am well informed, that by some later 
regulation, the pay of the artillery has been aug- 
mented, and now stands according to the follow- 
ing rates: captains ^10. 13. 4; captain-lieutenants 
^8 ; lieutenants each, £']. 6. 8 ; sergeants, £'^. 6. 8 ; 
corporals, £'>^. i. 4; bombardiers, ^3. i. 4; gun- 
ners, ;^3 ; matrosses, £2. 7. 4 ; drummers and 
fifers, £-^. By comparing these with my pay 
rolls, you will discover a considerable difference, 



12 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

and I doubt not you will be easily sensible that 
such a difference should not exist. I am not 
personally interested in having an augmentation 
agreeable to the above rates, because my own 
pay will remain the same that it now is ; but I 
make this application on behalf of the company, 
as I am fully convinced such a disadvantageous 
distinction will have a very pernicious effect on 
the minds and behaviour of the men. They do 
the same duty with the other companies, and 
think themselves entitled to the same pay. They 
have been already comparing accounts, and many 
marks of discontent have lately appeared on this 
score. As to the circumstance of our being con- 
fined to the defence of the colony, it will have 
little or no weight, for there are but few in the 
company who would not as willingly leave the 
colony on any necessary expedition as stay in it ; 
and they will not therefore think it reasonable 
to have their pay curtailed on such a considera- 
tion. 

Captain Beauman, I understand, enlists all his 
men on the above terms, and this makes it very 
difificult for me to get a single recruit, for men 
will naturally go to those who pay them best. On 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 13 

this account I should wish to be immediately 
authorized to offer the same pay to all who may 
be inclined to enlist. 

The next thing I should wish to know is, 
whether I might be allowed any actual expenses 
that might attend the enlistment of men, should 
I send into the country for that purpose ; the 
expense would not be great and it would enable 
me to complete my company at once, and bring 
it the sooner into proper order and discipline. 
Also, I should be glad to be informed if my 
company is to be allowed the frock which is given 
to the other troops as a bounty. This frock would 
be extremely serviceable in summer while the men 
are on fatigue, and would put it in their power to 
save their uniform much longer. 

I am, gentlemen, with the greatest respect, 
Your most obedient servant 

A. Hamilton, Captain. 



14 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



To THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS 

July 26, 1776. 

Gentlemen, — I am obliged to write you, to re- 
move a difficulty which arises respecting the 
quantity of subsistence which is to be allowed my 
men. Enclosed you will have the rate of rations 
which is the standard allowance of the whole 
Continental and even the Provincial army, but it 
seems Mr. Curtenius cannot afford to supply us 
with more than his contract stipulates, which by 
comparison, you will find is considerably less than 
the forementioned rate. My men, you are sensi- 
ble, are by their articles, entitled to the same sub- 
sistence with the Continental troops ; and it would 
be to them an insupportable discrimination, as well 
as a breach of the terms of their enlistment, to give 
them almost a third less provisions than the whole 
army besides receives. I doubt not you will readily 
put this matter upon a proper footing. Hitherto, 
we have drawn our full allowance from Mr. Cur- 
tenius, but he did it upon the supposition that he 
should have a farther consideration for the extra- 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 15 

ordinary supply. At present, however, he scruples 
to proceed in the same way, until he can be put 
upon a more certain foundation. 



From HUGH KNOX 

St. Croix, April 31, 1777. 

My Dear Friend, — A pretty fair opportunity 
just offering for Philadelphia, I could not omit 
acknowledging the receipt of your very circum- 
stantial and satisfactory letter of the 14th February. 
The thing has happened which I wished for. We 
have been amazed here by vague, imperfect, and 
very false accounts of matters from the continent : 
and I always told my friends, that if you survived 
the campaign, and had an hour of leisure to write 
to me, I expected a more true, circumstantial, and 
satisfactory account of matters in your letter, than 
by all the public papers and private intelligence 
we have received here. I have but a moment to 
command at present, and have not time to remark 
upon your letter. I can only inform you, that it 
has given high satisfaction to all friends here. We 
rejoice in your good character and advancement^ 



i6 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

which is, indeed, only the just reward of merit. 
May you still live to deserve more and more from 
the friends of America, and to justify the choice, 
and merit the approbation, of the Great and 
Good General Washington — a name which will 
shine with distinguished lustre in the annals of 
history — a name dear to the friends of the 
Liberties of Mankind ! Mark this : You must 
be the Annalist and Biographer, as well as the 
Aide-de-camp, of General Washington — and the 
Historiographer of the American War ! I take 
the liberty to insist on this. I hope you take 
minutes and keep a Journal ! If you have not 
hitherto, I pray do it henceforth. I seriously, and 
with all my little influence, urge this upon you. 
This may be a new and strange thought to you ; 
but if you survive the present troubles, / aver — 
few men will be as well qualified to write the his- 
tory of the present glorious struggle. God only 
knows how it may terminate. But however that 
may be, it will be a most interesting story. 

I congratulate you on your recovery from a long 
and dangerous illness. It is my own case — I am 
just convalescent, after the severest attack I ever 
had in my life. I hope to write you more at large 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 17 

soon, and remain, with the tender of every kind of 
friendly wish, 

My dear Sir, 

Your affectionate servant 

Hugh Knox. 



From WASHINGTON 
(letter of instructions) 

Headquarters, Philadelphia Co. 30th Oct. 1777. 

Dear Sir, — It having been judged expedient by 
a council of war held yesterday, that one of the 
gentlemen of my family should be sent to General 
Gates, in order to lay before him the state of this 
army and the situation of the enemy, and to point 
out to him the many happy consequences that will 
accrue from an immediate reinforcement being sent 
from the northern army, I have thought it proper to 
appoint you to that duty, and desire that you will 
immediately set out for Albany, at which place, or 
in the neighbourhood, I imagine you will find Gen- 
eral Gates. 

You are so fully acquainted with the principal 
points on which you are sent, namely, the state of 



i8 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

our army and the situation of the enemy, that I 
shall not enlarge on those heads. What you are 
chiefly to attend to, is to point out in the clearest 
and fullest manner to General Gates, the absolute 
necessity that there is for his detaching a very con- 
siderable part of the army at present under his com- 
mand to the reinforcement of this ; a measure that 
will in all probability reduce General Howe to the 
same situation in which General Burgoyne now is, 
should he attempt to remain in Philadelphia with- 
out being able to remove the obstructions in the 
Delaware, and open a free communication with his 
shipping. The force which the members of the 
council of war judge it safe and expedient to draw 
down at present, are the three New-Hampshire and 
fifteen Massachusetts regiments, with Lee's and 
Jackson's two of the sixteen, additional. But it is 
more than probable that General Gates may have 
detained part of those troops to the reduction of 
Ticonderoga, should the enemy not have evacuated 
it, or to the garrisoning of it. If they should, in 
that case the reinforcement will be according to 
circumstances ; but, if possible, let it be made up to 
the same number out of other corps. If upon your 
meeting with General Gates, you should find that 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 19 

he intends, in consequence of his success, to employ 
the troops under his command upon some expedi- 
tion, by the prosecution of which the common 
cause will be more benefited than by their being 
sent down to reinforce this army, it is not my wish 
to give any interruption to the plan. But if he 
should have nothing more in contemplation than 
those particular objects which I have mentioned to 
you, and which it is unnecessary to commit to 
paper, in that case you are to inform him that it is 
my desire that the reinforcements before mentioned, 
or such part of them as can be safely spared, be 
immediately put in motion to join the army. 

I have understood that General Gates has 
already detached Nixon's and Glover's brigades to 
join General Putnam, and General Dickinson 
informs me. Sir Henry Clinton has come down the 
river with his whole force ; if this be a fact, you are 
to desire General Putnam to send the two brigades 
forward with the greatest expedition, as there can 
be no occasion for them there. 

I expect you will meet Colonel Morgan's corps 
upon their way down ; if you do, let them know 
how essential their services are to us, and desire 
the Colonel or commanding officer to hasten their 



20 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

march as much as is consistent with the health of 

the men after their late fatigues. 

G. W. 

P.S. I ordered the detachment belonging to 
General McDougal's division to come forward. If 
you meet them, direct those belonging to Greene's, 
Angel's, Chandler's, and Duryee's regiments not to 
cross Delaware, but to proceed to Red Bank. 

To WASHINGTON 

Albany, November, 1777. 

Dear Sir, — I arrived here yesterday at noon, 
and waited upon General Gates immediately, on 
the business of my mission ; but was sorry to find 
that his ideas did not correspond with yours, for 
drawing off the number of troops you directed. I 
used every argument in my power, to convince him 
of the propriety of the measure ; but he was inflex- 
ible in the opinion that two brigades at least, of 
continental troops, should remain in and near this 
place. His reasons were that the intelligence of 
Sir Henry Clinton's having gone to join Howe, 
was not sufficiently authenticated to put it out of 
doubt; that there was, therefore, a possibility of 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 21 

his returning up the river, which might expose the 
finest arsenal in America (as he calls the one here) 
to destruction, should this place be left so bare of 
troops as I proposed ; and that the want of con- 
veniences, and the difficulties of the roads, would 
make it impossible to remove artillery and stores 
for a considerable time ; that the New England 
States would be left open to the depredations and 
ravages of the enemy ; that it would put it out of 
his power to enterprise anything against Ticonde- 
roga, which he thinks might be done in the winter, 
and which he considers it of importance to under- 
take. 

The force of these reasons did by no means 
strike me ; and I did everything in my power to 
show they were unsubstantial : but all I could effect 
was to have one brigade dispatched, in addition to 
those already marched. I found myself infinitely 
embarrassed, and was at a loss how to act. I felt 
the importance of strengthening you as much as 
possible: but on the other hand I found insuper- 
able inconveniences, in acting diametrically opposite 
to the opinion of a gentleman whose successes have 
raised him to the highest importance. General 
Gates has won the entire confidence of the Eastern 



2 2 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

States. If disposed to do it, by addressing himself 
to the prejudices of the people, he would find no 
difficulty to render a measure odious, which it might 
be said, with plausibility enough to be believed, 
was calculated to expose them to unnecessary dan- 
gers, notwithstanding their exertions, during the 
campaign, had given them the fullest title to repose 
and security. General Gates has influence and 
interest elsewhere: he might use it, if he pleased, 
to discredit the measure there also. On the whole, 
it appeared to me dangerous to insist on sending 
more troops from hence, while General Gates ap- 
peared so warmly opposed to it. Should any 
accident or inconvenience happen in consequence 
of it, there would be too fair a pretext for censure : 
and many people are too well disposed to lay hold 
of it. At any rate, it might be considered as using 
him ill, to take a step so contrary to his judgment, 
in a case of this nature. These considerations, and 
others which I shall be more explicit in when I 
have the pleasure of seeing you, determined me not 
to insist upon sending either of the other brigades 
remaining here. I am afraid that what I have done 
may not meet with your approbation, as not being 
perhaps fully warranted by your instructions ; but I 



i 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 23 

ventured to do what I thought right, hoping that, at 
least, the goodness of my intention will excuse the 
error of my judgment. 

I was induced to this relaxation the more read- 
ily, as I had directed to be sent to you two thou- 
sand militia, which were not expected by you ; and 
a thousand continental troops out of those proposed 
to be left with General Putnam, which I have 
written to him, since I found how matters were 
circumstanced here, to forward to you with all dis- 
patch. I did this for several reasons : because your 
reinforcement would be more expeditious from that 
place than from this : because two thousand conti- 
nental troops at Peekskill will not be wanted in its 
present circumstances ; especially as it was really 
necessary to have a body of continental troops at 
this place, for the security of the valuable stores 
here ; and I should not, if I had my wish, think it 
expedient to draw off more than two of the three 
brigades now here. This being the case, one of 
the ends you proposed to be answered, by leaving 
the ten regiments with General Putnam, will be 
equally answered by the troops here ; I mean that 
of covering and fortifying the Eastern States ; and 
one thousand continental troops in addition to the 



24 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

militia collected, — and that may be collected here, 
— will be sufficient, in the Highlands, for covering 
the country down that way, and carrying on the 
works necessary to be raised for the defence of the 
river. 

The troops gone, and going, to reinforce you, are 
near five thousand rank and file, continental troops ; 
and two thousand five hundred Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire militia. These, and the seven 
hundred Jersey militia, will be a larger reinforce- 
ment than you expected, though not quite an equal 
number of continental troops ; nor exactly in the 
way directed. General Lincoln tells me, the militia 
are very excellent; and though their time will be 
out by the last of this month, you will be able, if 
you think proper, to order the troops still remaining 
here to join you by the time their term of service 
expires. 

I cannot forbear being uneasy, lest my conduct 
should prove displeasing to you ; but I have done 
what, considering all circumstances, appeared to me 
most eligible and prudent. 

Vessels are preparing to carry the brigade to 
New Windsor, which will embark this evening. I 
shall, this afternoon, set out on my return to camp ; 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 25 

and on my way, shall endeavour to hasten the 
troops forward. 

I have the honour to be, 

With great esteem and respect, 

Your Excellency's most ob't, 

Alex. Hamilton. 



To GATES 

Albany, November 5, 1777. 

Sir, — By inquiry, I have learned that General 
Patterson's brigade, which is the one you propose 
to send, is by far the weakest of the three now here, 
and does not consist of more than about six hun- 
dred rank and file fit for duty. It is true, that 
there is a militia regiment with it of about tw^o hun- 
dred ; but the time of service for which this regi- 
ment is engaged, is so near expiring, that it would 
be past by the time the men could arrive at their 
destination. 

Under these circumstances, I cannot consider it 
either as compatible with the good of the service, 
or my instructions from His Excellency, General 
Washington, to consent that that brigade be 
selected from the three to go to him ; but I am 



26 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

under the necessity of desiring, by virtue of my 
orders from him, that one of the others be substi- 
tuted instead of this; either General Nixon's or 
General Glover's; and that you will be pleased to 
give immediate orders for its embarkation. 

Knowing that General Washington wished me 
to pay the greatest deference to your judgment, 
I ventured so far to deviate from the instructions 
he gave me, as to consent, in compliance with your 
opinion, that two brigades should remain here, 
instead of one. At the same time, permit me to 
observe, that I am not myself sensible of the 
expediency of keeping more than one, with the 
detached regiments in the neighbourhood of this 
place ; and that my ideas coincide with those gen- 
tlemen whom I have consulted on the occasion, 
whose judgment I have much more reliance upon 
than on my own, and who must be supposed to have 
a thorough knowledge of all the circumstances. 
Their opinion is, that one brigade, and the regi- 
ments before mentioned, would amply answer the 
purposes of this post. When I preferred your 
opinion to other considerations, I did not imagine 
you would pitch upon a brigade little more than 
half as large as the others: and finding this to be 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 27 

the case, I indispensably owe it to my duty, to 
desire, in His Excellency's name, that another may 
go instead of the one intended, and without loss of 
time. As it may be conducive to dispatch to send 
Glover's brigade, if agreeable to you, you will give 
orders accordingly. 

I have the honour to be, 

With respect and esteem, 

Sir, your most obedient servant, 

A. Hamilton. 

To WASHINGTON 

New Windsor, November loth, 1777. 

Dear Sir, — I arrived here last night from 
Albany. Having given General Gates a little 
time to recollect himself, I renewed my remon- 
strances on the necessity and propriety of send- 
ing you more than one brigade of the three he 
had detained with him ; and finally prevailed upon 
him to sfive orders for Glover's in addition to 
Patterson's brigade, to march this way. 

As it was thought conducive to expedition, to send 
the troops by water, as far as it could be done, I pro- 
cured all the vessels that could be had at Albany, 



28 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

fit for the purpose ; but could not get more than 
sufificient to take Patterson's brigade. It was 
embarked the seventh instant; but the wind has 
been contrary : they must probably be here to-day. 
General Glover's brigade marched at the same 
time, on the east side of the river, the roads being 
much better than on this side. I am at this 
moment informed, that one sloop, with a part of 
Patterson's, has arrived, and that the others are in 
sight. They will immediately proceed, by water, to 
King's Ferry, and thence take the shortest route. 

I am pained beyond expression to inform your 
Excellency, that on my arrival here, I find every- 
thing has been neglected and deranged by Gen- 
eral Putnam ; and that the two brigades, Poor's 
and Learned's, still remain here and on the other 
side of the river at Fishkill. Colonel Warner's 
militia, I am told, have been withdrawn to Peekskill, 
to aid in an expedition against New- York, which, 
it seems, is, at this time, the hobby-horse with Gen- 
eral Putnam. Not the least attention has been 
paid to my order, in your name, for a detachment 
of one thousand men from the troops hitherto 
stationed at this post. Everything is sacrificed to 
the whim of taking New- York. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 29 

The two brigades of Poor and Learned, it 
appears, would not march for want of money and 
necessaries ; several of the regiments having 
received no pay for six or eight months past. 
There has been a high mutiny among the former 
on this account, in which a captain killed a man, 
and was himself shot by his comrade. These 
difficulties, for want of proper management, have 
stopped the troops from proceeding. Governor 
Clinton has been the only man who has done 
anything toward removing them ; but for want of 
General Putnam's cooperation has not been able to 
effect it. He has only been able to prevail with 
Learned's brigade, to agree to march to Goshen ; in 
hopes, by getting them once on the go, to induce 
them to continue their march. On coming here, 
I immediately sent for Colonel Bailey, who now 
commands Learned's brigade, and persuaded him 
to engage to carry the brigade on to headquarters 
as fast as possible. This he expects to effect by 
means of five or six thousand dollars, which Gov- 
ernor Clinton was kind enough to borrow for me, 
and which Colonel Bailey thinks will keep the 
men in good humour till they join you. They 
marched this morning towards Goshen. 



30 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

I shall, as soon as possible, see General Poor, and 
do everything in my power to get him along; and 
hope I shall be able to succeed. 

The plan I before laid, having been totally 
deranged, a new one has become necessary. It is 
now too late to send Warner's militia ; by the 
time they reached you their term of service would 
be out. The motive for sending them, which was 
to give you a speedy reinforcement, has, by the 
past delay, been superseded. 

By Governor Clinton's advice, I have sent out 
an order, in the most emphatical terms, to General 
Putnam, immediately to dispatch all the continental 
troops under him to your assistance ; and to detain 
the militia instead of them. 

My opinion is, that the only present use for 
troops in this quarter, is to protect the country 
from the depredations of little plundering parties ; 
and for carrying on the works necessary for the 
defence of the river. Nothing more ought to be 
thought of. 'Tis only wasting time, and misapply- 
ing men, to employ them in a suicidal parade against 
New- York : for in this it will undoubtedly termi- 
nate. New- York is no object, if it could be taken : 
and to take it, would require more men than can be 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 31 

spared from more substantial purposes. Governor 
Clinton's ideas coincide with mine. He thinks 
that there is no need of more continental troops 
here, than a few to give a spur to the militia in 
working upon the fortifications. In pursuance of 
this, I have given the directions before mentioned. 
If General Putnam attends to them, the troops 
under him may be with you nearly as early as any 
of the others (though he has, unluckily, marched 
them down to Tarry town) ; and General Glover's 
brigade when it gets up, will be more than sufficient 
to answer the true end of this post. 

If your Excellency agrees with me in opinion, It 
will be well to send instant directions to General 
Putnam, to pursue the object I have mentioned : for 
I doubt whether he will attend to anything I shall 
say, notwithstanding it comes in the shape of a 
positive order. I fear, unless you interpose, the 
works here will go on so feebly, for want of men, 
that they will not be completed in time : whereas, 
it appears to me of the greatest importance they 
should be pushed with the utmost vigour. Gov- 
ernor Clinton will do everything in his power. I 
wish General Putnam was recalled from the com- 
mand of this post, and Governor Clinton would 



32 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

accept it : the blunders and caprices of the former 
are endless. Believe me, Sir, nobody can be more 
impressed with the importance of forwarding the 
reinforcements coming to you, with all speed ; nor 
could anyone have endeavoured to promote it more 
than I have done : but the ignorance of some and 
the design of others, have been almost insuperable 
obstacles. I am very unwell ; but I shall not spare 
myself to get things immediately in a proper train ; 
and for that purpose intend, unless I receive other 
orders from you, to continue with the troops in the 
progress of their march. As soon as I get General 
Poor's brigade in march, I shall proceed to General 
Putnam's at Peekskill. 

To WASHINGTON 

New Windsor, November 12, 1777. 

Dear Sir, — I have been detained here these 
two days by a fever, and violent rheumatic pains 
throughout my body. This has prevented my 
being active, in person, for promoting the purposes 
of my errand ; but I have taken every other method 
in my power, in which Governor Clinton has oblig- 
ingly given me all the aid he could. In answer 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 33 

to my pressing application to General Poor, for 
the immediate marching of his brigade, I was told 
they were under an operation for the itch ; which 
made it impossible for them to proceed till the 
effects of it were over. By a letter, however, of 
yesterday. General Poor informs me, he would cer- 
tainly march this morning. I must do him the 
justice to say, he appears solicitous to join you ; 
and that I believe the past delay is not owing 
to any fault of his, but is wholly chargeable on 
General Putnam. Indeed, Sir, I owe it to the 
service to say, that every part of this gentleman's 
conduct is marked with blunder and negligence, 
and gives general disgust. 

Parson's brigade will join you, I hope, in five 
or six days from this. Learned's may do the same. 
Poor's will, I am persuaded, make all the haste 
they can for the future. And Glover's may be 
expected at Fishkill to-night; whence they will 
be pressed forward as fast as I can have any in- 
fluence to make them go. But I am sorry to say, 
the disposition for marching, in the officers and 
men in general, of these troops, does not keep pace 
with my wishes, or the exigency of the occasion. 
They have, unfortunately, imbibed an idea, that 



34 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

they have done their part of the business of the 
campaign, and are now entitled to repose. This, 
and the want of pay, make them averse to a long 
march at this advanced season. 

In a letter from General Putnam, just now re- 
ceived by Governor Clinton, he appears to have 
been, the tenth instant, at King's Street, at the 
White Plains. I have had no answer to my last 
applications. The enemy appear to have stripped 
New- York very bare. The people there, that is, 
the Tories, are in a great fright: this adds to my 
anxiety, that the reinforcements from this quarter 
to you are not in greater forwardness and more 
considerable. 

I have written to General Gates, informing him 
of the accounts of the situation of New- York with 
respect to troops, and the probability of the force 
gone to Howe being greater than was at first 
expected ; to try if this will not extort from him 
a further reinforcement. I don't, however, expect 
much from him ; as he pretends to have in view 
an expedition against Ticonderoga, to be under- 
taken in the winter : and he knows that, under the 
sanction of this idea, he may, without censure, 
retain the troops. And as I shall be under a 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 35 

necessity of speaking plainly to your Excellency, 
when I have the pleasure of seeing you, I shall not 
hesitate to say, I doubt whether you would have 
had a man from the northern army, if the whole 
could have been kept at Albany with any decency. 
Perhaps you will think me blamable in not having 
exercised the powers you gave me, and given a 
positive order. Perhaps I have been so : but, 
deliberately weighing all circumstances, I did not, 
and do not, think it advisable to do it. 

I am, &c. 

To WASHINGTON 

Peekskill, Nov. 15, 1777. 
Dear Sir, — I arrived at this place last night, 
and unfortunately find myself unable to proceed 
any further. Imagining I had gotten the better 
of my complaint, which confined me at Governor 
Clinton's and anxious to be about attending to 
the march of the troops, the day before yesterday 
I crossed the ferry, in order to fall in with General 
Glover's brigade, which was on its march from 
Poughkeepsie to Fishkill. I did not, however, 
see it myself, but received a letter from Colonel 
Shepherd, who commands the frigate, informing me 



36 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

he would be last night at Fishkill, and this night 
at King's Ferry. Wagons, &c., are provided on 
the other side for his accommodation ; so that there 
need be no delay but what is voluntary; and I 
believe Colonel Shepherd is as well disposed as 
could be wished to hasten his march. General 
Poor's brigade crossed the ferry the day before 
yesterday. Two York regiments, Courtland's and 
Livingston's, are with them: they were unwilling 
to be separated from the brigade, and the brigade 
from them. General Putnam was unwilling to 
keep them with him : and if he had consented to 
do it, the regiments to displace them would not 
join you six days as soon as these. The troops 
now remaininsf with General Putnam will amount 
to about the number you intended, though they are 
not exactly the same. He has detached Colonel 
Charles Webb's regiment to you. He says the 
troops with him are not in a condition to march, 
being destitute of shoes, stockings, and other nec- 
essaries; but I believe the true reasons of his 
being unwilling to pursue the mode pointed out 
by you, were his aversion to the York troops, and 
his desire to retain General Parsons with him. 

I am, &c. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 37 



From WASHINGTON 

Head Quarters, November 15th, 1777. 

Dear Sir, — I have duly received your several 
favours, from the time you left me to that of 
the twelfth instant. I approve entirely of all the 
steps you have taken ; and have only to wish 
that the exertions of those you have had to deal 
with, had kept pace with your zeal and good 
intentions. I hope your health will, before this, 
have permitted you to push on the rear of the 
whole reinforcement beyond New Windsor. Some 
of the enemy's ships have arrived in the Dela- 
ware ; but how many have troops on board I 
cannot exactly ascertain. The enemy have lately 
damaged Fort Mifflin considerably; but our peo- 
ple keep possession, and seem determined to do 
so to the last extremity. Our loss in men has 
been but small. Captain Treat is unfortunately 
among the killed. I wish you a safe return, 
And I am, dear Sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

G. Washington. 



38 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



From HUGH KNOX 

St. Croix, December lo, 1777. 

Dear Hamilton, — The fine, impartial, laconic, 
and highly descriptive account you favoured me 
with of the last year's campaign, in your letter of 
March last, excited in me, and many of your 
other friends here, an earnest desire of further 
accounts from your pen, of the succeeding fortunes 
of the Great American War: a war which will, 
one day, shine more illustriously in the historic 
page, than any which has happened since the 
times of Nimrod and the Giants ; and deservedly, 
on account of the goodness of the cause, the 
grandeur of the object, the eclat of the generals, 
the bravery of the troops, — and (alas ! that I 
should be obliged to add) of the cruelty and 
ferocity which has marked the route of your 
enemies ; and the tons of brothers' blood which 
has been shed on the unhappy occasion. 

I wrote two answers to your obliging letter 
both of which I hope have reached you ; and 
in both of which I have urged it upon you, to 
make and collect such memoirs as the urgency 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 39 

of your affairs will permit you ; which may furnish 
materials for an accurate history of the war, when 
you shall have leisure to fill up and embellish 
such a skeleton, with all that elegance and dignity 
of which your fine pen is capable. 

The honourable post you hold under the great 
General Washington, and so near his person, will 
give you a peculiar advantage in delineating his 
character, both in his amiable private virtues and 
military abilities. And depend upon it, the very 
minutiae of that incomparable man will be read 
with avidity by posterity. You know me too 
well, I hope, to suspect me of superstition ; yet 
I feel myself, at times, under a strong impulse 
to prophesy, that Washington was born for the 
deHverance of America — and that Providence who 
has raised and trained him up for that very pur- 
pose, will watch over his sacred life with a pater- 
nal and solicitous care ; will shield his head in 
every day of battle — will give him to see America 
free, flourishing, and happy — and will adorn his 
fame, among latest posterity, with a Garland of 
Laurel, more verdant, blooming and enviable, than 
ever adorned the brow of a Marlborough I 

The bearer of this line (if he should be indeed 



40 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

SO fortunate as to put it into your hand) is our 
worthy friend, Mr. Cornelius Durant, who is pos- 
sessed of an ardent desire of having the honour 
of a short interview with General Washington ; 
principally that he may have it to say, that he 
has seen and spoken to the greatest mmi of this 
age : and, indeed, considering Mr. Durant's per- 
sonal worth ; his uncommon zeal for, and attach- 
ment to the American cause ; the losses he has 
sustained in attempting to assist her ; and his 
extraordinary admiration of, and love to the Gen- 
eral's character and person, few men more richly 
merit this indulgence. If you still exist, and 
exist near the General's person (and I have not 
yet seen your name among the list of the slain 
or the disgraced), you can easily procure him 
this honour — and I trust you will. 

We are now blessed with, and certified of, the 
glorious news of Burgoyne's surrender to the 
immortal Gates; another bright star in the Con- 
stellation of American Heroes ; and we are 
momently expecting to hear that General Wash- 
ington has done something like the same by 
General Howe ! But we yet tremble in suspense 
— and it is indeed a painful one. Probably 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LEITERS 41 

before this letter goes we shall hear more of 
the matter. Our general accounts are favour- 
able ; and while the Chevaux de frize are defended 
we have no fears about Philadelphia. May this 
campaign decide the matter ! 

By the time this reaches you, you will be (if 
you are at all) in winter quarters ; and may 
perhaps be at leisure to write me a half folio, 
of which Mr. Durant will take care to write 
me duplicates, or triplicates, for fear of miscar- 
riage. 

A piece of mine, entitled "An Address to 
America, by a friend in a foreign government," 
has been sent to the Congress for publication 
(if approved). I know not yet its fate. It is, 
at least, an honestly designed and animating 
piece, but written incorrectly, and in a hurry. 
If you have seen it pray give me your senti- 
ments about it; but let it be on a loose paper 
enclosed in your letter ; for the knowledge of 
my being the author must be a profound secret 
here. 

My wishes are, that the God of Armies may 
defend and protect you, and to cause you happily 
to survive, and to hand down to posterity the 



42 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

present important scenes. Numbers here esteem 
you, and would join me in declaring themselves, 
as I do, 

Dear Hamilton, 
Your ever affectionate friend and servant, 

Hugh Knox. 



To OTHO H. WILLIAMS 

nth June, 1779. 

Dear Williams, — The General sends you four 
fresh horsemen to enable you to transmit him 
intelligence. The General will take the road you 
marched to your quarters. 

Mind your eye, my dear boy, and if you have 
an opportunity, fight hard. 

Your friend and servant, 

A. Hamilton. 



From COLONEL FLEURY 

L'Infantry Camp, i8th August, 1779. 

Dear Colonel, — The of^cers of the two A Bat- 
talions of rinfantery, which I actually command, 
have applied to me for ceasing to run over these 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 43 

craggy mountains barefooted, and beg that I would 
write to headquarters to have an order from his 
Excellency to get one pair of shoes for each; the 
shoes they hint to are at New Windsor, and their 
intention is to pay for. 

Do not be so greedy for shoes as for my blanket, 
and think that the most urgent necessity has deter- 
mined their application ; they are quite barefoot. 
I am very respectfully, Sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

L. Fleury. 

N.B. As his Excellency could form a very 
advantageous idea of our being lucky in shoes by 
the appearance of the officers who dined to-day at 
headquarters, and were not quite without, I beg 
you would observe to him, if necessary, that each 
company had furnished a shoe for their dressing. 

Si vous savez un mot de M. De La Luzerne 
dites le moi. 

From JOHN LAURENS 

December 18, 1779. 

My dear Hamilton, — On my arrival in town, I 
was informed by the President, that congress had 



44 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

suspended the business of appointing a secretary 
to their minister plenipotentiary at Versailles until 
my return, in hopes that I might still be prevailed 
upon to accept the office. I replied, that I 
thought my letter upon the subject sufficiently 
explicit, and assured him of my sincere desire to 
be excused from serving in that capacity at the 
present juncture of our affairs. 

He urged the unanimity of the choice with 
respect to me — the difficulty of uniting the suf- 
frages of all parties, in case of a new nomination, 
and the advantages of this union. Several dele- 
gates of congress declared to me the embarrass- 
ment of congress since I had declined. One, iii 
particular, suggested to me his apprehension of 
interest being made for a late delegate of New- 
York, who is candidate for the office, and to whom 
the world in general allows greater credit for his 
abilities than his integrity ; and said : " he was 
determined to oppose him with all his influence." 
When I quitted town the sixteenth, these matters 
crowded into my mind. I fell into a train of 
serious reflections and self-examination, — endeav- 
oured to investigate whether I had fulfilled the 
duties of a good citizen in the transaction. In 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 45 

fine I agitated the grand question, whether a citi- 
zen has a right to decHne any office to which his 
countrymen appoint him; upon what that right is 
founded, and whether it existed in my case. 

After undergoing the severest conflict I ever 
experienced, sometimes reproaching, sometimes 
justifying myself, pursuing my journey, or turning 
retrograde, as the arguments on the one side or 
the other appeared to prevail, I determined that 
I had been deficient in the duties of a good 
citizen. I returned to Philadelphia, communicated 
my sentiments to the President and two other 
members; declared to them that I thought it 
incumbent on me, in the first place, to recommend 
a person equally qualified in point of integrity, 
and much better in point of ability. That if, 
unhappily, they could not agree on Colonel Hamil- 
ton, and that I was absolutely necessary to exclude 
a dangerous person, or to prevent pernicious de- 
lays, I should think it my duty to obey the orders 
of congress. The persons now in nomination, are, 
Colonel Hamilton, Mr. Lovell, Mr. G. Morris, 
Major Stewart. Great stress is laid upon the 
ability and integrity of the person to be employed 
in this commission. I have given my testimony 



46 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

of you in this and the other equally essential 
points. 

My love, as usual. Adieu. 

John Laurens. 



From LAURENS 

Charleston. 

Ternant will relate to you how many violent 
struggles I have had between duty and inclination 
— how much my heart was with you, while I 
appeared to be most actively employed here. But 
it appears to me that I should be inexcusable in 
the light of a citizen, if I did not continue my 
utmost efforts for carrying the plan of the black 
levies into execution, while there remains the small- 
est hope of success. 

Our army is reduced to nothing, almost, by the 
departure of the Virginians. Scott's arrival will 
scarcely restore us to our ancient number. If the 
enemy destine the reinforcements from Great Brit- 
ain to this quarter, as in policy they ought to do, 
that number will be insufificient for the security of 
our country. The Governor, among other matters 
to be laid before the House of Assembly, intends 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 47 

to propose the completing our continental battal- 
ions by drafts from the militia. This measure, I 
am told, is so unpopular that there is no hope of 
succeeding in it. Either this must be adopted, or 
the black levies, or the state will fall a victim to the 
improvidence of its inhabitants. 

The House of Representatives have had a longer 
recess than usual, occasioned by the number of 
members in the field. It will be convened, how- 
ever, in a few days. I intend to qualify, and make 
a final effort. Oh, that I were a Demosthenes ! 
The Athenians never deserved a more bitter repro- 
bation than our countrymen. 

General Clinton's movement, and your march in 
consequence, made me wish to be with you. If 
anything important should be doing in your quar- 
ter, while I am doing daily penance here, and mak- 
ing successless harangues, I shall execrate my stars, 
and be out of humour with the world. I entreat 
you, my dear friend, write me as frequently as cir- 
cumstances will permit, and enlighten me upon 
what is going forward. 

Adieu. My love to our colleagues. I am afraid 
I was so thoughtless as to omit my remembrances 
to Gibbes. Tell him that I am his sincere well- 



48 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

wisher, and hope to laugh with him again ere 

long. 

Adieu again, 

Yours ever, 

John Laurens. 

From LAURENS 

1778, December. 

My dear Hamilton, — You have seen and by this 
time considered. General Lee's infamous publica- 
tion. I have collected some hints for an answer; 
but I do not think, either that I can rely upon my 
own knowledge of facts and style to answer him 
fully, or that it would be prudent to undertake it 
without counsel. An affair of this kind ought to 
be passed over in total silence, or answered in a 
masterly manner. 

The ancient secretary is the Recueil of modern 
history and anecdotes, and will give them to us 
with candour, elegance, and perspicuity. The pen 
of Junius is in your hand ; and I think you will, 
without difficulty, expose in his defence, letters, and 
last production, such a tissue of falsehood and 
inconsistency, as will satisfy the world and put him 
forever to silence. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 49 

Adieu, my dear boy : — I shall set out for camp 
to-morrow. 

John Laurens. 

To JOHN LAURENS 

Cold in my professions — warm in my friendships 
— I wish, my dear Laurens, it were in my power, 
by actions, rather than words, to convince you that 
I love you. I shall only tell you, that till you bade 
us adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught 
my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it 
was not well done. You know the opinion I enter- 
tain of mankind ; and hov/ much it is my desire to 
preserve myself from particular attachments, and 
to keep my happiness independent of the caprices 
of others. You should not have taken advantage 
of my sensibility to steal into my affections without 
my consent. But as you have done it, and as we 
are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall 
not scruple to pardon the fraud you have com- 
mitted, on one condition ; that for my sake, if not 
for your own, you will continue to merit the par- 
tiality which you have so artfully instilled into me. 

I have received your two letters ; one from Phila- 



so A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

delphia, the other from Chester. I am pleased 
with your success so far; and I hope the favour- 
able omens that precede your application to the 
Assembly, may have as favourable an issue ; pro- 
vided the situation of affairs should require it, 
which I fear will be the case. But both for your 
country's sake, and for my own, I wish the enemy 
may be gone from Georgia before you arrive; 
and that you may be obliged to return, and share 
the fortunes of your old friends. In respect to 
the commission which you received from Congress, 
all the world must think your conduct perfectly 
right. Indeed, your ideas upon this occasion seem 
not to have their wonted accuracy ; and you have 
had scruples, in a great measure, without founda- 
tion. By your appointment as aid-de-camp to the 
commander-in-chief, you had as much the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel as any officer in the line. Your 
receiving a commission as lieutenant-colonel, from 
the date of that appointment, does not in the least 
injure or interfere with one of them ; unless, by 
virtue of it you are introduced into a particular 
regiment, in violation of the right of succession, 
which is not the case at present ; neither is it a 
necessary consequence. As you were going to 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 51 

command a battalion, it was proper you should 
have a commission ; and if this commission had 
been dated posterior to your appointment as aid- 
de-camp, I should have considered it derogatory 
to your former rank, to mine, and to that of the 
whole corps. The only thing I see wrong in the 
affair is this: Congress by their conduct, both on 
the former and present occasion, appear to have 
intended to confer a privilege, an honour, a mark 
of distinction, a something upon you, which they 
withheld from other gentlemen of the family. 
This carries with it an air of preference, which, 
though we can all truly say we love your char- 
acter and admire your military merit, cannot fail 
to give some of us uneasy sensations. But in this, 
my dear, I wish you to understand me well. The 
blame, if there is any, falls wholly upon congress. 
I repeat it, your conduct has been perfectly right, 
and even laudable; — you rejected the offer when 
you ought to have accepted it ; and let me add, 
with a degree of over-scrupulous delicacy. It was 
necessary to your project. Your project was the 
public good ; and I should have done the same. 
In hesitating, you have refined on the refinements 
of generosity. 



52 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

There is a total stagnation of news here. Gates 
has refused the Indian command. SuUivan is 
come to take it. The former has lately given 
fresh proofs of his impudence, his folly, and his 

. 'Tis no great matter; but a peculiarity in 

the case prevents my saying what. 

Fleury shall be taken care of. All the family 
send love. In this join the General and Mrs. 
Washington; and what is best, it is not in the 
style of ceremony, but sincerity. 

To LAURENS 

September, 1780. 

Since my return from Hartford, my dear 
Laurens, my mind has been too little at ease to 
permit me to write to you sooner. It has been 
wholly occupied by the affecting and tragic conse- 
quences of Arnold's treason. My feelings were 
never put to so severe a trial. You will no doubt 
have heard the principal facts before this reaches 
you ; but there are particulars to which my situa- 
tion gave me access, that cannot have come to 
your knowledge from public report, which I am 
persuaded you will find interesting. 

From several circumstances, the project seems 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 53 

to have originated with Arnold himself, and to 
have been long premeditated. The first overture 
is traced back to some time in June last. It was 
conveyed in a letter to Colonel Robinson, the sub- 
stance of which was, that the ingratitude he had 
experienced from his country, concurring with 
other causes, had entirely changed his principles; 
that he now only sought to restore himself to the 
favour of his king, by some signal proof of his 
repentance, and would be happy to open a corre- 
spondence with Sir Henry Clinton for that purpose. 
About this period he made a journey to Connecti- 
cut; on his return from which to Philadelphia, he 
solicited the command of West Point, alleging 
that the effects of his wound had disqualified him 
for the active duties of the field. The sacrifice 
of this important post was the atonement he in- 
tended to make. General Washington hesitated 
the less to gratify an officer who had rendered 
such eminent services, as he was convinced the 
post might be safely intrusted to one who had 
given so many distinguished proofs of his bravery. 
In the beginning of August he joined the army, 
and renewed his application. The enemy at this 
juncture had embarked the greatest part of their 



54 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

force on an expedition to Rhode-Island, and our 
army was in motion to compel them to relinquish 
the enterprise or to attack New-York in its weak- 
ened state. The General offered Arnold the left 
wing of the army, which he declined, on the pre- 
text already mentioned, but not without visible 
embarrassment. He certainly might have executed 
the duties of such a temporary command, and it 
was expected from his enterprising temper that 
he would gladly have embraced so splendid an 
opportunity. But he did not choose to be diverted 
a moment from his favourite object; probably 
from an apprehension that some different disposi- 
tion might have taken place which would have 
excluded him. The extreme solicitude he discov- 
ered to get possession of the post would have led 
to a suspicion of the treachery, had it been pos- 
sible, from his past conduct, to have supposed him 
capable of it. 

The correspondence thus begun, was carried on 
between Arnold and Major Andre, Adjutant Gen- 
eral to the British army, in behalf of Sir Henry 
Clinton, under feigned signatures, and in a mer- 
cantile disguise. In an intercepted letter of 
Arnold, which lately fell into our hands, he pro- 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 55 

poses an interview " to settle the risks and prof- 
its of the copartnership, " and in the same style 
of metaphor intimates an expected augmentation 
of the garrison, and speaks of it as the means of 
extending their traffic. It appears by another 
letter, that Andre was to have met him on the 
lines, under the sanction of a flag, in the char- 
acter of Mr. John Anderson. But some cause or 
other, not known, prevented this interview. 

The twentieth of last month, Robinson and 
Andre went up the river in the Vulture, sloop of 
war. Robinson sent a flag to Arnold with two 
letters, one to General Putnam, enclosed in another 
to himself, proposing an interview with Putnam, or 
in his absence with Arnold, to adjust some private 
concerns. The one to General Putnam was evi- 
dently meant as a cover to the other, in case, by 
accident, the letter should have fallen under the 
inspection of a third person. 

General Washington crossed the river on his way 
to Hartford, the day these dispatches arrived. 
Arnold, conceiving he must have heard of the 
flag, thought it necessary, for the sake of appear- 
ances, to submit the letters to him, and asked his 
opinion of the propriety of complying with the 



56 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

request. The General, with his usual caution, 
though without the least surmise of the design, 
dissuaded him from it, and advised him to reply to 
Robinson, that whatever related to his private affairs 
must be of a civil nature, and could only properly be 
addressed to the civil authority. This reference 
fortunately deranged the plan, and was the first 
link in the chain of events that led to the detection. 
The interview could no longer take place in the 
form of a flag, but was obliged to be managed in a 
secret manner. 

Arnold employed one Smith to go on board the 
Vulture the night of the twenty-second, to bring 
Andre on shore with a pass for Mr. John Anderson. 
Andre came ashore accordingly, and was conducted 
within a picket of ours to the house of Smith, 
where Arnold and he remained together in close 
conference all that night and the day following. 
At daylight in the morning, the commanding 
officer at King's Ferry, without the privity of 
Arnold, moved a couple of pieces of cannon to a 
point opposite to where the Vulture lay, and obliged 
her to take a more remote station. This event, or 
some lurking distrust, made the boatmen refuse to 
convey the two passengers back, and disconcerted 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 57 

Arnold so much, that by one of those strokes of 
infatuation which often confound the schemes of 
men conscious of guilt, he insisted on Andre's 
exchanging his uniform for a disguise, and return- 
ing in a mode different from that in which he came. 
Andre, who had been undesignedly brought within 
our posts, in the first instance, remonstrated warmly 
against this new and dangerous expedient. But 
Arnold, persisting in declaring it impossible for 
him to return as he came, he at length reluctantly 
yielded to his direction, and consented to change 
his dress, and take the route he recommended. 
Smith furnished the disguise, and in the evening 
passed King's Ferry with him, and proceeded to 
I Crompond, where they stopped the remainder of 
! the night (at the instance of a militia officer), 
to avoid being suspected by him. The next morn- 
ing they resumed their journey. Smith accompany- 
ing Andre a little beyond Pine's Bridge, where he 
, left him. He had reached Tarrytown, when he 
I was taken up by three militiamen, who rushed out 
j of the woods, and seized his horse. At this criti- 
' cal moment, his presence of mind forsook him. 
r Instead of producing his pass, which would have 
j extricated him from our parties, and could have 



58 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

done him no harm with his own, he asked the 
militiamen if they were of the upper or lower 
party, distinctive appellations known among the 
refugee corps. The militiamen replied, they were 
of the lower party ; upon which he told them he 
was a British officer, and pressed them not to detain 
him as he was upon urgent business. This con- 
fession removed all doubt; and it was in vain he 
afterwards produced his pass. He was instantly 
forced off to a place of greater security; where 
after a careful search, there were found concealed 
in the feet of his stockings, several papers of 
importance delivered to him by Arnold. Among 
these there were a plan of the fortifications of West 
Point, a memorial from the engineer on the attack 
and defence of the place, returns of the garrison, 
cannon, and stores, copies of the minutes of a 
council of war held by General Washington a few 
weeks before. The prisoner at first was inadver- 
tently ordered to Arnold ; but on recollection, while 
still on the way, he was countermanded and sent to 
Old Salem. 

The papers were enclosed in a letter to General 
Washington, which having taken a route different 
from that by which he returned, made a circuit, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 59 

that afforded leisure for another letter, through an 
ill-judged delicacy, written to Arnold, with informa- 
tion of Anderson's capture, to get to him an hour 
before General Washington arrived at his quarters, 
time enough to elude the fate that awaited him. 
He went down the river in his barge to the Vul- 
ture, with such precipitate confusion that he did 
not take with him a single paper useful to the 
enemy. On the first notice of the affair he was 
pursued, but much too late to be overtaken. 

There was some colour for imagining it was a 
part of the plan to betray the General into the 
hands of the enemy. Arnold was very anxious to 
ascertain from him the precise day of his return, 
and the enemy's movements seem to have corre- 
sponded to this point. But if it was really the case 
it was very injudicious. The success must have 
depended on surprise, and as the officers at the 
advanced posts were not in the secret, their meas- 
ures might have given the alarm, and General 
Washington, taking command of the post, might 
have rendered the whole scheme abortive. Arnold, 
it is true, had so dispersed the garrison as to have 
made a defence difficult, but not impracticable ; and 
the acquisition of West Point was of such magni- 



6o A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

tude to the enemy, that it would have been unwise 
to connect it with any other object, however great, 
which might make the obtaining of it precarious. 
Arnold, a moment before his setting out, went 
into Mrs. Arnold's apartment, and informed her 
that some transaction had just come to light, which 
must forever banish him from his country. She fell 
into a swoon at this declaration, and he left her 
in it to consult his own safety, till the servants, 
alarmed by her cries, came to her relief. She 
remained frantic all day, accusing every one who 
approached her with an intention to murder her 
child (an infant in her arms), and exhibiting every 
other mark of the most genuine and agonizing dis- 
tress. Exhausted by the fatigue and tumult of her 
spirits, her frenzy subsided towards evening, and 
she sunk into all the sadness of affliction. It was 
impossible not to have been touched with her situa- 
tion ; every thing affecting in female tears, or in the 
misfortunes of beauty, every thing pathetic in the 
wounded tenderness of a wife, or in the apprehensive 
fondness of a mother, and, till I have reason to 
change the opinion, I will add, every thing amiable 
in suffering innocence, conspired to make her an 
object of sympathy to all who were present. She 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 6i 

experienced the most delicate attentions, and every 
friendly office, till her departure for Philadelphia. 

Andre was, without loss of time, conducted to the 
headquarters of the army, where he was immedi- 
ately brought before a board of general officers, to 
prevent all possibility of misrepresentation or cavil 
on the part of the enemy. 

The board reported that he ought to be con- 
sidered as a spy, and according to the laws and 
usages of nations, to suffer death, which was exe- 
cuted two days after. 

Never, perhaps, did any man suffer death with 
more justice, or deserve it less. The first step he 
took after his capture, was to write a letter to 
General Washington, conceived in terms of dignity 
without insolence, and apology without meanness. 
The scope of it was to vindicate himself from the 
imputation of having assumed a mean character, 
for treacherous or interested purposes ; asserting 
that he had been involuntarily an impostor; that 
contrary to his intention, which was to meet a per- 
son for intelligence on neutral ground, he had been 
betrayed within our posts, and forced into the vile 
condition of an enemy in disguise ; soliciting only 
that to whatever rigour policy might devote him, a 



62 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

decency of treatment might be observed to a per- 
son who, though unfortunate, had been guilty of 
nothing dishonourable. His request was granted 
in its full extent ; for in the whole progress of the 
affair, he was treated with the most scrupulous deli- 
cacy. When brought before the board of officers 
he met with every mark of indulgence, and was 
required to answer no interrogatory which would 
even embarrass his feelings. On his part, while he 
carefully concealed everything that might impli- 
cate others, he frankly confessed all the facts relat- 
ing to himself, and upon his confession, without the 
trouble of examining a witness, the board made their 
report. The members were not more impressed 
with the candour and firmness, mixed with a becom- 
ing sensibility which he displayed, than he was 
penetrated with their liberality and politeness. He 
acknowledged the generosity of their behaviour 
towards him in every respect, but particularly in 
this, in the strongest terms of manly gratitude. In 
a conversation with a gentleman who visited him 
after his trial, he said he flattered himself he had 
never been illiberal ; but if there were any remains 
of prejudice in his mind, his present experience 
must obliterate them. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 63 

In one of the visits I made to him (and I saw 
him several times during his confinement) he 
begged me to be the bearer of a request to the 
General, for permission to send an open letter to 
Sir Henry Clinton. " I foresee my fate," said he, 
" and though I pretend not to play the hero, or to be 
indifferent about life, yet I am reconciled to what- 
ever may happen, conscious that misfortune, not 
guilt, has brought it upon me. There is only one 
thing that disturbs my tranquillity. Sir Henry 
Clinton has been too good to me ; he has been 
lavish of his kindness ; I am bound to him by too 
many obligations, and love him too well to bear the 
thought that he should reproach himself, or others 
should reproach him, on the supposition of my hav- 
ing conceived myself obliged, by his instructions, to 
run the risk I did. I would not, for the world, 
leave a sting in his mind that should embitter his 
future days." He could scarce finish the sentence ; 
bursting into tears, in spite of his efforts to suppress 
them, and with difficulty collected himself enough 
afterwards to add, " I wish to be permitted to as- 
sure him, I did not act under this impression, but 
submitted to a necessity imposed upon me, as con- 
trary to my own inclination, as to his orders." His 



64 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

request was readily complied with, and he wrote the 
letter annexed, with which t dare say you will be 
as much pleased as I am, both for the sentiment 
and diction. 

When his sentence was announced to him, he 
remarked, that since it was his lot to die, there was 
still a choice in the mode, which would make a ma- 
terial difference to his feelings; and he would be 
happy, if possible, to be indulged with a professional 
death. He made a second application by letter, 
in concise but persuasive terms. It was thought 
this indulgence, being incompatible with the cus- 
toms of war, could not be granted ; and it was, 
therefore, determined, in both cases, to evade an 
answer, to spare him the sensations, which a certain 
knowledge of the intended mode would inflict. 

In going to the place of execution, he bowed 
familiarly as he went along, to all those with whom 
he had been acquainted in hi;: confinement. A 
smile of complacency expressed the supreme forti- 
tude of his mind. Arrived at the fatal spot, he 
asked with some emotion, " Must I then die in this 
manner ? " He was told it had been unavoidable. 
" I am reconciled to my fate," said he, " but not to 
the mode." Soon, however, recollecting himself, he 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 65 

added, " It will be but a momentary pang ; " and 
springing upon the cart, performed the last offices 
to himself with a composure that excited the ad- 
miration and melted the hearts of the beholders. 
Upon being told the final moment was at hand, and 
asked if he had anything to say, he answered, 
" Nothing but to request you will witness to the 
world, that I die like a brave man." Among the 
extraordinary circumstances that attended him, in 
the midst of his enemies, he died universally regret- 
ted and universally esteemed. 

There was something singularly interesting in 
the character and fortunes of Andre. To an excel- 
lent understanding, well improved by education and 
travel, he united a peculiar elegance of mind and 
manners, and the advantage of a pleasing person. 
It is said he possessed a pretty taste for the fine 
arts, and had himself attained some proficiency in 
poetry, music, and painting. His knowledge ap- 
peared without ostentation, and embellished by a 
diffidence that rarely accompanies so many talents 
and accomplishments, which left you to suppose 
more than appeared. 

His sentiments were elevated, and inspired 
esteem, — they had a softness that conciliated 



66 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

affection. His elocution was handsome ; his address 
easy, polite, and insinuating. By his merit he had 
acquired the unlimited confidence of his General, 
and was making a rapid progress in military rank 
and reputation. But in the height of his career, 
flushed with new hopes from the execution of a 
project the most beneficial to his party that could 
be devised, he was at once precipitated from the 
summit of prosperity, and saw all the expectations 
of his ambition blasted, and himself ruined. 

The character I have given of him, is drawn 
partly from what I saw of him myself, and partly 
from information. I am aware, that a man of real 
merit is never seen in so favourable a light as 
through the medium of adversity. The clouds 
that surround him are shades that set off his good 
qualities. Misfortune cuts down the little vanities, 
that in prosperous times serve as so many spots in 
his virtues, and gives a tone of humility that makes 
his worth more amiable. His spectators, who 
enjoy a happier lot, are less prone to detract from 
it through envy; and are more disposed by com- 
passion to give him the credit he deserves, and 
perhaps even to magnify it. 

I speak not of Andre's conduct in this affair as a 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 67 

philosopher, but as a man of the world. The 
authorized maxims and practices of war are the 
satires of human nature. They countenance 
almost every species of seduction, as well as 
violence ; and the General who can make most 
traitors in the army of his adversary is frequently 
most applauded. On this scale we acquit Andre, 
while we would not but condemn him if we were 
to examine his conduct by the sober rules of phi- 
losophy and moral rectitude. It is, however, a 
blemish on his fame, that he once intended to 
prostitute a flag, — about this, a man of nice 
honour ought to have had a scruple ; but the 
temptation was great. Let his misfortunes cast 
a veil over his error. 

Several letters from Sir Henry Clinton, and 
others, were received in the course of the affair, 
feebly attempting to prove that Andre came out 
under the protection of a flag, with a passport from 
a general officer in actual service ; and conse- 
quently, could not be justly detained. Clinton 
sent a deputation, composed of Lieutenant Gen- 
eral Robinson, Mr. Elliot, and Mr. William Smith, 
to represent, as he said, the true state of Major 
Andre's case. General Greene met Robinson, and 



68 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

had a conversation with him, in which he reiterated 
the pretence of a flag, urged Andre's release as a 
personal favour to Sir Henry Clinton, and offered 
any friend of ours in their power in exchange. 
Nothing could have been more frivolous than the 
plea which was used. The fact was, that besides 
the time, manner, object, of the interview, change of 
dress, and other circumstances, there was not a 
single formality customary with flags ; and the pass- 
port was not to Major Andre, but to Mr. Anderson. 
But had there been, on the contrary, all the for- 
malities, it would be an abuse of language to say, 
that the sanction of a flag, for corrupting an officer 
to betray his trust, ought to be respected. So 
unjustifiable a purpose would not only destroy its 
validity but make it an aggravation. 

Andre himself has answered the argument by 
ridiculing and exploding the idea, in his examina- 
tion before the board of ofificers. It was a weak- 
ness to urge it. 

There was, in truth, no way of saving him. 
Arnold or he must have been the victim ; the 
former was out of our power. 

It was by some suspected, Arnold had taken 
his measures in such a manner, that if the inter- 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 69 

view had been discovered in the act, it mioht have 
been in his power to sacrifice Andre to his own 
security. This surmise of double treachery made 
them imagine Clinton would be induced to give 
up Arnold for Andre; and a gentleman took 
occasion to suggest the expedient to the latter, as 
a thing that might be proposed by him. He 
declined it. The moment he had been capable of 
so much frailty I should have ceased to esteem him. 
The infamy of Arnold's conduct, previous to his 
desertion, is only equalled by his baseness since. 
Besides the folly of writing to Sir Henry Clinton 
that Andre had acted under a passport from him, 
and according to his directions, while commanding 
officer of a post, and that therefore he did not 
doubt he would be immediately sent in, he had the 
effrontery to write to General Washington in the 
same spirit, with the addition of a menace of 
retaliation, if the sentence should be carried into 
execution. He has since acted the farce of send- 
ing in his resignation. This man is, in every 
sense, despicable. In addition to the scene of 
knavery and prostitution during his command in 
Philadelphia, which the late seizure of his papers 
has unfolded, the history of his command at West 



70 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Point is a history of little as well as great villanies. 
He practised every art of peculation ; and even 
stooped to connexion with the sutlers of the gar- 
rison to defraud the public. 

To his conduct, that of the captors of Andre 
formed a striking contrast. He tempted them with 
the offer of his watch, his horse, and any sum of 
money they should name. They rejected his offers 
with indignation ; and the gold that could seduce a 
man high in the esteem and confidence of his coun- 
try, who had the remembrance of past exploits, the 
motives of present reputation and future glory, to 
prop his integrity, had no charms for three simple 
peasants, leaning only on their virtue and an honest 
sense of their duty. While Arnold is handed down 
with execration to future times, posterity will repeat 
with reverence the names of Van Wart, Paulding, 
and Williams. 

I congratulate my friend on our happy escape 
from the mischiefs with which this treason was 
big. It is a new comment on the value of an 
honest man, and, if it were possible, would endear 
you to me more than ever. Adieu. 

A. Hamilton. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 71 

To MISS SCHUYLER 

September 25th, 1780. 

. . . Arnold, hearing of the plot being detected, 
immediately fled to the enemy. I went in pursuit 
of him, but was much too late ; and could hardly 
regret the disappointment when, on my return, I 
saw an amiable woman frantic with distress for 
the loss of a husband she tenderly loved, — a traitor 
to his country and his fame, — a disgrace to his 
connexions ; it was the most affecting scene I ever 
was witness to. She, for a considerable time, lost 
herself. The General went up to see her, and she 
upbraided him with being in a plot to murder her 
child. One moment she raved, another she melted 
into tears. Sometimes she pressed her infant to 
her bosom, and lamented its fate, occasioned by 
the imprudence of its father, in a manner that 
would have pierced insensibility itself. All the 
sweetness of beauty, all the loveliness of innocence, 
all the tenderness of a wife, and all the fondness 
of a mother, showed themselves in her appearance 
and conduct. We have every reason to believe 
that she was entirely unacquainted with the plan, 



72 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

and that the first knowledge of it was when Arnold 
went to tell her he must banish himself from 
his country and from her for ever. She instantly 
fell into a convulsion, and he left her in that situa- 
tion. 

This morning she is more composed. I paid 
her a visit, and endeavoured to soothe her by every 
method in my power; though you may imagine 
she is not easily to be consoled. Added to her 
other distresses, she is very apprehensive the re- 
sentments of her country will fall upon her (who 
is only unfortunate) for the guilt of her husband. 

I have tried to persuade her that her fears are 
ill-founded ; but she will not be convinced. She 
received us in bed, with every circumstance that 
would interest our sympathy, and her sufferings 
were so eloquent, that I wished myself her brother, 
to have a right to become her defender, — as it is 
I have entreated her to enable me to give her 
proofs of my friendship. Could I forgive Arnold 
for sacrificing his honour, reputation, and duty, I 
could not forgive him for acting a part that must 
have forfeited the esteem of so fine a woman. At 
present she almost forgets his crime in his misfor- 
tunes; and her horror at the guilt of the traitor. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 73 

is lost in her love of the man. But a virtuous 
mind cannot long esteem a base one, and time 
will make her despise, if it cannot make her hate. 

To MISS SCHUYLER 

Tappan, Oct. 2, 1780. 

Poor Andre suffers to-day; everything that is 
amiable in virtue, in fortitude, in delicate sentiment, 
and accomplished manners pleads for him ; but 
hard-hearted policy calls for a sacrifice. He must 
die — I send you my account of Arnold's affair, 
and to justify myself to your sentiments, I must 
inform you, that I urged a compliance with Andre's 
request to be shot, and I do not think it would 
have had an ill effect, but some people are only 
sensible to motives of policy, and sometimes, from 
a narrow disposition, mistake it. 

When Andre's tale comes to be told, and present 
resentment is over, — the refusing him the privilege 
of choosing the manner of his death will be 
branded with too much obstinacy. 

It was proposed to me to suggest to him the 
idea of an exchange for Arnold ; but I knew I 
should have forfeited his esteem for doing it, and 



74 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

therefore declined it. As a man of honour, he could 
not but reject it ; and I would not for the world 
have proposed to him a thing which must have 
placed me in the unamiable light of supposing him 
capable of a meanness, or of not feeling, myself, 
the impropriety of the measure. I confess to you, 
I had the weakness to value the esteem of a dying 
man because I reverenced his merit. 



To ELIZABETH SCHUYLER i 

October 13th, 1780. 

I would not have you imagine, Miss, that I write 
you so often to gratify your wishes or please your 
vanity ; but merely to indulge myself, and to com- 
ply with that restless propensity of my mind which 
will not be happy unless I am doing something in 
which you are concerned. This may seem a very 
idle disposition in a philosopher and a soldier, but 
I can plead illustrious examples in my justification. 
Achilles liked to have sacrificed Greece and his 
glory to a female captive, and Anthony lost a 
world for a woman. I am very sorry times are 

^ This letter was first published in Martha Lamb's '' History of New 
York." 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 75 

SO changed as to oblige me to go to antiquity for 
my apology, but I confess, to the disgrace of the 
present time, that I have not been able to find as 
many who are as far gone as myself in the laudable 
Zeal of the fair sex. I suspect, however, if others 
knew the charm of my sweetheart as I do, I could 
have a great number of competitors. I wish I 
could give an idea of her. You can have no 
conception of how sweet a girl she is. It is only 
in my heart that her image is truly drawn. She 
has a lovely form and still more lovely mind. 
She is all goodness, the gentlest, the dearest, the 
tenderest of her sex. Ah, Betsey, how I love her! 

Two days since I wrote to you, my dear girl, and 
sent the letter to the care of Colonel Morris : there 
was with it a bundle to your mamma, directed to your 
father, containing a cloak which Miss Livingston sent 
to my care. I enclosed you in that letter one to my 
friend Laurens with an account of Arnold's affair. 
I mention this for fear of a miscarriage as usual. 

Well, my love, here is the middle of October ; a 
few weeks more and you are mine ; a sweet reflec- 
tion to me — is it so to my charmer ? Do you 
find yourself more or less anxious for the moment 
to arrive as it approaches ? This is a good criterion 



76 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

to determine the degree of your affection by. You 
have had an age for consideration, time enough 
for even a woman to know her mind in. Do you 
begin to repent or not ? Remember you are going 
to do a very serious thing. For though our sex 
have generously given up a part of its prerogatives, 
and husbands have no longer the power of life 
and death, as the wiser husbands of former days 
had, yet we still retain the power of happiness 
and misery; and if you are prudent you will not 
trust the felicity of your future life to one in 
whom you have not good reason for implicit con- 
fidence. I give you warning — don't blame me if 
you make an injudicious choice — and if you should 
be disposed to retract, don't give me the trouble 
of a journey to Albany, and then do as did a cer- 
tain lady I have mentioned to you, find out the 
day before we are to be married that you ' can't 
like the man ' ; but of all things I pray you don't 
make the discovery afterwards — for this would 
be worse than all. But I do not apprehend its 
being the case. I think we know each other well 
enough to understand each other's feelings, and 
to be sure our affection will not only last but be 
progressive. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 77 

I stopped to read over my letter — it is a motley 
mixture of fond extravagance and sprightly dull- 
ness: the truth is I am too much in love to be 
either reasonable or witty : I feel in the extreme ; 
and when I attempt to speak of my feelings I rave. 
I have remarked to you before that real tenderness 
has also a tincture of sadness, and when I affect 
the lively my melting heart rebels. It is separated 
from you and it cannot be cheerful. Love is a 
sort of insanity and everything I write savors 
strongly of it ; that you return it is the best proof 
of your madness also. I tell you, my Betsey, you 
are negligent ; you do not write me often enough. 
Take more care of my happiness, for there is 
nothing your Hamilton would not do to promote 
yours. 

To THE HON. JAMES DUANE 

Liberty Pole, Sept. 3, 1780. 

Dear Sir, — Agreeable to your request, and my 
promise, I sit down to give you my ideas of the 
defects of our present system, and the changes 
necessary to save us from ruin. They may, per- 
haps, be the reveries of a projector, rather than 



78 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

the sober views of a politician. You will judge 
of them, and make what use you please of 
them. 

The fundamental defect is a want of power in 
congress. It is hardly worth while to show in 
what this consists, as it seems to be universally 
acknowledged ; or to point out how it has happened, 
as the only question is how to remedy it. It may, 
however, be said, that it has originated from three 
causes, — an excess of the spirit of liberty, which 
has made the particular states show a jealousy of 
all power not in their own hands ; and this jealousy 
has led them to exercise a right of judging, in 
the last resort, of the measures recommended by 
congress, and of acting according to their own 
opinions of their propriety or necessity ; — a diffi- 
dence in congress of their own powers, by which 
they have been timid and indecisive in their reso- 
lutions; constantly making concessions to the 
states, till they have scarcely left themselves the 
shadow of power; — a want of sufficient means at 
their disposal to answer the public exigencies, and 
of vigour to draw forth those means, which have 
occasioned them to depend on the states, individu- 
ally, to fulfil their engagements with the army; 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 79 

the consequence of which has been to ruin their 
influence and credit with the army, to establish 
its dependence on each state, separately, rather 
than on them; that is, than on the whole collec- 
tively. 

It may be pleaded that congress had never any 
definitive powers granted them, and of course could 
exercise none, — could do nothing more than rec- 
ommend. The manner in which congress was 
appointed would warrant, and the public good 
required, that they should have considered them- 
selves as vested with full power to preserve the 
republic from, harm. 

They have done many of the highest acts of 
sovereignty, which were always cheerfully sub- 
mitted to; the declaration of independence, the 
declaration of war, the levying an army, creating 
a navy, emitting money, making alliances with 
foreign powers, appointing a dictator, &c., &c. ; all 
these were implications of a complete sovereignty, 
were never disputed, and ought to have been a 
standard for the whole conduct of administration. 
Undefined powers are discretionary powers, limited 
only by the object for which they were given ; in 
the present case, the independence and freedom 



8o A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



I 



of America. The confederation made no differ- 
ence ; for as it has not been generally adopted, it 
had no operation. 

But, from what I recollect of it, congress have 
even descended from the authority which the spirit 
of that act gives them; while the particular states 
have no farther attended to it, than as it suited 
their pretensions and convenience. It would take 
too much time to enter into particular instances; 
each of which, separately, might appear inconsider- 
able, but united are of serious import. I only 
mean to remark, not to censure. 

But the confederation itself is defective, and 
requires to be altered ; it is neither fit for war, 
nor peace. The idea of an uncontrollable sover- 
eignty in each state, over its internal police, will 
defeat the other powers given to congress, and 
make our union feeble and precarious. There are 
instances, without number, where acts necessary 
for the general good, and which rise out of the 
powers given to congress, must interfere with the 
internal police of the states ; and there are as 
many instances in which the particular states, by 
arrangements of internal police, can effectually, 
though indirectly, counteract the arrangements of 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 8i 

congress. You have already had examples of this, 
for which I refer you to your own memory. 

The confederation gives the states, individually, 
too much influence in the affairs of the army ; they 
should have nothing to do with it. 

The entire formation and disposal of our mili- 
tary forces ought to belong to congress. It is an 
essential cement of the union ; and it ought to be 
the policy of congress to destroy all ideas of state 
attachments in the army, and make it look up 
wholly to them. For this purpose all appoint- 
ments, promotions, and provisions whatsoever, 
ought to be made by them. It may be appre- 
hended that this may be dangerous to liberty. 
But nothing appears more evident to me, than that 
we run much greater risk of having a weak and 
disunited Federal government, than one which 
will be able to usurp upon the rights of the 
people. 

Already some of the lines of the army would 
obey their states in opposition to congress, notwith- 
standing the pains we have taken to preserve the 
unity of the army. If anything would hinder this, 
it would be the personal influence of the General — 
a melancholy and mortifying consideration. The 



82 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LE^fTERS 

forms of our state constitutions must always give 
them great weight in our affairs, and will make it 
too difficult to blind them to the pursuit of a com- 
mon interest, too easy to oppose whatever they do 
not like, and to form partial combinations, subver- 
sive of the general one. There is a wide difference 
between our situation and that of an empire under 
one simple form of government, distributed into 
counties, provinces, or districts, which have no 
legislatures, but merely magistratical bodies to 
execute the laws of a common sovereign. Here 
the danger is that the sovereign will have too much 
power, and oppress the parts of which it is com- 
posed. In our case, that of an empire composed 
of confederative states, each with a government 
completely organized within itself, having all the 
means to draw its subjects to a close dependence 
on itself, the danger is directly the reverse. It is 
that the common sovereign will not have power 
sufficient to unite the different members together, 
and direct the common forces to the interest and 
happiness of the whole. 

The leagues among the old Grecian republics 
are a proof of this. They were continually at 
war with each other, and for want of union fell 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 83 

a prey to their neighbours. They frequently held 
general councils, but their resolutions were no 
farther observed, than as they suited the interests 
and inclinations of all the parties, and, at length, 
they sank entirely into contempt. 

The Swiss cantons are another proof of the doc- 
trine. They have had wars with each other, which 
would have been fatal to them, had not the differ- 
ent powers in their neighbourhood been too jealous 
of one another, and too equally matched, to suffer 
either to take advantage of their quarrels. That 
they have remained so long united at all, is to be 
attributed to their weakness, to their poverty, and 
to the cause just mentioned. These ties will not 
exist in America. A little time hence, some of 
the states will be powerful empires ; and we are 
so remote from other nations, that we shall have 
all the leisure and opportunity we can wish to cut 
each other's throats. 

The Germanic corps might also be cited as an 
example in favour of the position. 

The United Provinces may be thought to be one 
against it. But the family of the Stadtholders, 
whose authority is interwoven with the whole gov- 
ernment, has been a strong link of union between 



84 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

them. Their physical necessities, and the habits 
founded upon them, have contributed to it. Each 
province is too inconsiderable by itself to undertake 
anything. An analysis of their present constitution 
would show, that they have many ties which would 
not exist in ours ; and that they are by no means a 
proper model for us. 

Our own experience should satisfy us. We have 
felt the difHculty of drawing out the resources of 
the country, and inducing the states to combine in 
equal exertions for the common cause. The ill suc- 
cess of our last attempt is striking. Some have 
done a great deal ; others little, or scarcely any- 
thing. The disputes about boundaries, &c., testify 
how flattering a prospect we have of future tran- 
quillity, if we do not frame in time a confederacy 
capable of deciding the differences, and compelling 
the obedience of the respective members. 

The confederation, too, gives the power of the 
purse too entirely to the state legislatures. It 
should provide perpetual funds in the disposal of 
congress, by a land tax, poll tax, or the like. All 
imposts upon commerce ought to be laid by con- 
gress, and appropriated to their use ; for without 
certain revenues, a government can have no power ; 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 85 

that power which holds the purse strings absolutely, 
must rule. This seems to be a medium, which, 
without making congress altogether independent, 
will tend to give reality to its authority. 

Another defect in our system is, want of method 
and energy in the administration. This has partly 
resulted from the other defect; but in a great de- 
gree from prejudice and the want of a proper execu- 
tive. Congress have kept the power too much in 
their own hands, and have meddled too much with 
details of every sort. Congress is properly a delib- 
erative coips, and it forgets itself when it attempts 
to play the executive. It is impossible that a body, 
numerous as it is, constantly fluctuating, can ever 
act with sufhcient decision, or with system. Two 
thirds of the members, one-half the time cannot 
know what has gone before them, or what con- 
nexion the subject in hand has to what has been 
transacted on former occasions. The members who 
have been more permanent, will only give informa- 
tion that promotes the side they espouse, in the 
present case, and will as often mislead as enlighten. 
The variety of business must distract, and the 
proneness of every assembly to debate, must at all 
times delay. 



86 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Lately, congress, convinced of these inconven- 
iences, have gone into the measure of appointing 
boards. But this is, in my opinion, a bad plan. A 
single man in each department of the administra- 
tion, would be greatly preferable. It would give us 
a chance of more knowledge, more activity, more 
responsibility, and, of course, more zeal and atten- 
tion. Boards partake of a part of the inconveniences 
of larger assemblies; — their decisions are slower, 
their energy less, their responsibilities more dif- 
fused. They will not have the same abilities and 
knowledge as an administration by single men. 
Men of the first pretensions will not so readily 
engage in them, because they will be less conspicu- 
ous, of less importance, have less opportunity of 
distinguishing themselves. The members of boards 
will take less pains to inform themselves and arrive 
at eminence, because they have fewer motives to do 
it. All these reasons conspire to give a preference 
to the plan of vesting the great executive depart- 
ments of the state in the hands of individuals. As 
these men will be, of course, at all times under the 
direction of congress, we shall blend the advan- 
tages of a monarchy and republic in one constitution. 

A question has been made, whether single men 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 87 

could be found to undertake these offices. I think 
they could; because there would be then every 
thing to excite the ambition of candidates. But in 
order to this, congress, by their manner of appoint- 
ing them, and the line of duty marked out, must 
show that they are in earnest in making these 
offices, offices of real trust and importance. 

I fear a little vanity has stood in the way of these 
arrangements, as though they would lessen the 
importance of congress, and leave them nothing 
to do. But they would have precisely the same 
rights and powers as heretofore, happily disencum- 
bered of the detail. They would have to inspect 
the conduct of their ministers, deliberate upon their 
plans, originate others for the public good, — only 
observing this rule, that they ought to consult their 
ministers, and get all the information and advice 
they could from them, before they entered into any 
new measures, or made changes in the old. 

A third defect is, the fluctuating constitution of 
our army. This has been a pregnant source of 
evil ; — all our military misfortunes, three-fourths 
of our civil embarrassments, are to be ascribed to 
it. The General has so fully enumerated the mis- 
chiefs, in a late letter to congress, that I could only 



88 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

repeat what he has said, and will, therefore, refer 
you to that letter. 

The imperfect and unequal provision made for 
the army, is a fourth defect, which you will find 
delineated in the same letter. Without a speedy 
change, the army must dissolve ; — it is now a mob 
rather than an army, — without clothing, without 
pay, without provision, without morals, without dis- 
cipline. We begin to hate the country for its 
neglect of us ; the country begins to hate us for our 
oppressions of them. Congress have long been 
jealous of us ; we have now lost all confidence in 
them, and give the worst construction to all they 
do. Held together by the slenderest ties, we are 
ripening for a dissolution. 

The present mode of supplying the army by 
state purchases is not one of the least considerable 
defects of our system. It is too precarious a depend- 
ence, because the states will never be sufficiently 
impressed with our necessities. Each will make its 
own ease a primary object, the supply of the army 
a secondary one. The variety of channels through 
which the business is transacted, will multiply the 
number of persons employed, and the opportunities 
of embezzling public money. From the popular 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 89 

spirit on which most of the governments turn, the 

state agents will be men of less character and 

ability ; nor will there be so rigid a responsibility 

among them as there might easily be among those 

in the employ of the continent ; of course not so 

much diligence, care, or economy. Very little of 

the money raised in the several states will go into 

the continental treasury, on pretence that it is 

j all exhausted in providing the quotas of supplies, 

j and the public will be without funds for the other 

(demands of government. The expense will be 

i ultimately much greater, and the advantage much 

I smaller. We actually feel the insufficiency of this 

I plan, and have reason to dread, under it, a ruinous 

' extremity of want. 

i These are the principal defects in the present 
I system that now occur to me. There are many 
I inferior ones in the organization of particular 
] departments, and many errors of administration, 
j which might be pointed out; but the task would 
be troublesome and tedious, and if we had once 
I remedied those I have mentioned, the others would 
' not be attended with much difficulty. 
I I shall now propose the remedies which appear 
]to me applicable to our circumstances, and neces- 



90 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

sary to extricate our affairs from their present 
deplorable situation. 

The first step must be to give congress powers 
competent to the public exigencies. This may 
happen In two ways : one by resuming and exercis- 
ing the discretionary powers I suppose to have 
been originally vested in them for the safety of 
the states, and resting their conduct on the can- 
dour of their countrymen and the necessity of the 
conjuncture; the other, by calling immediately a 
convention of all the states, with full authority 
to conclude finally upon a general confederation, 
stating to them beforehand explicitly the evils 
arising from a want of power in congress, and the 
impossibility of supporting the contest on its pres- 
ent footing, that the delegates may come possessed 
of proper sentiments, as well as proper authority, 
to give eflficacy to the meeting. Their commission 
should include a right of vesting congress with the 
whole or a proportion of the unoccupied lands, to 
be employed for the pui-pose of raising a revenue, 
reserving the jurisdiction to the states by whom 
they are granted. 

The first plan, I expect, will be thought too bold 
an expedient by the generality of congress ; and, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 91 

indeed, their practice hitherto has so riveted the 
opinion of their want of power, that the success of 
this experiment may very well be doubted. 

I see no objection to the other mode that has 
any weight in competition with the reasons for it. 
The convention should assemble the first of 
November next; the sooner the better; our dis- 
orders are too violent to admit of a common or 
lingering remedy. The reasons for which I re- 
quire them to be vested with plenipotentiary 
authority are, that the business may suffer no 
delay in the execution, and may in reality come to 
I effect. A convention may agree upon a confedera- 
i tion ; the states, individually, hardly ever will. We 
imust have one, at all events, and a vigorous one, if 
iwe mean to succeed in the contest and be happy 
i hereafter. As I said before, to engage the states to 
j comply with this mode, congress ought to confess to 
Ithem, plainly and unanimously, the impracticability 
of supporting our affairs on the present footing, and 
without a solid coercive union. I ask that the con- 
vention should have a power of vesting the whole 
,or a part of the unoccupied lands in congress, 
(because it is necessary that body should have 
some property, as a fund for the arrangements of 



92 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

finance ; and I know of no other kind that can be 
given them. 

The confederation, in my opinion, should give 
congress a complete sovereignty ; except as to that 
part of internal police which relates to the rights 
of property and life among individuals, and to 
raising money by internal taxes. It is necessary 
that everything belonging to this should be regu- 
lated by the state legislatures. Congress should 
have complete sovereignty in all that relates to 
war, peace, trade, finance, and to the management 
of foreign affairs; the right of declaring war, of 
raising armies, officering, paying them, directing 
their motions in every respect; of equipping fleets, 
and doing the same with them ; of building forti- 
fications, arsenals, magazines, &c., &c. ; of making 
peace on such conditions as they think proper; of 
regulating trade, determining with what countries it 
shall be carried on ; granting indulgences ; laying 
prohibitions on all the articles of export or import ; 
imposing duties, granting bounties and premiums 
for raising, exporting or importing; and applying 
to their own use the product of these duties, only 
giving credit to the states on whom they are raised 
in the general account of revenues and expense; 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 93 

instituting admiralty courts, &c. ; of coining money, 
establishing banks on such terms, and with such 
privileges, as they think proper; appropriating 
funds, and doing whatever else relates to the 
operations of finance ; transacting everything with 
foreign nations ; making alliances, offensive and 
defensive, treaties of commerce, &c., &c. 

The confederation should provide certain per- 
petual revenues, productive and easy of collection ; 
a land tax, poll tax, or the like, which, together 
with the duties on trade, and the unlocated lands, 
would give congress a substantial existence, and 
a stable foundation for their schemes of finance. 
What more supplies were necessary, should be 
occasionally demanded of the states, in the present 
mode of quotas. 

The second step I would recommend is, that con- 
gress should instantly appoint the following great 
officers of state: A Secretary for Foreign Affairs; 
a President of War; a President of Marine; A 
Financier; a President of Trade; instead of this 
last, a Board of Trade may be preferable, as the 
regulations of trade are slow and guarded, and 
require prudence and experience, (more than other 
qualities,) for which boards are very well adapted. 



94 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Congress should choose for these offices, men 
of the first abihties, property, and character, in 
the continent ; and such as have had the best 
opportunities of being acquainted with the several 
branches. General Schuyler, whom you men- 
tioned, would make an excellent President of 
War; General McDougal a very good President 
of Marine ; Mr. Robert Morris would have many 
things in his favour for the department of Fi- 
nance. He could, by his own personal influence, 
give great weight to the measures he should 
adopt. I dare say, men equally capable may be 
found for the other departments. 

I know not if it would not be a good plan to let 
the Financier be President of the Board of Trade; 
but he should only have a casting voice in deter- 
mining questions there. There is a connexion 
between trade and finance, which ought to make 
the director of one acquainted with the other; 
but the financier should not direct the affairs of 
trade, because, for the sake of acquiring reputa- 
tion by increasing the revenues, he might adopt 
measures that would depress trade. In what re- 
lates to finance he should be alone. 

These officers should have nearly the same 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 95 

powers and functions as those in France analogous 
to them, and each should be chief in his depart- 
ment, with subordinate boards, composed of assist- 
ants, clerks, &c., execute his orders. 

In my opinion, a plan of this kind would be of 
inconceivable utility to our affairs ; its benefits 
would be very speedily felt. It would give new life 
and energy to the operations of government. Busi- 
ness would be conducted with despatch, method, 
and system. A million of abuses now existing 
would be corrected, and judicious plans would be 
formed and executed for the public good. 

Another step of immediate necessity is, to re- 
cruit the army for the war, or at least for three 
years. This must be done by a mode similar to 
that which is practiced in Sweden. There the in- 
habitants are thrown into classes of sixteen, and 
when the sovereign wants men each of these classes 
must furnish one. They raise a fixed sum of 
money, and if one of the class is willing to become 
a soldier, he receives the money and offers himself a 
volunteer ; if none is found to do this, a draft is 
made, and he on whom the lot falls receives the 
money and is obliged to serve. The minds of 
the people are prepared for a thing of this kind ; the 



96 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

heavy bounties they have been obliged to pay for 
men to serve a few months must have disgusted 
them with this mode, and made them desirous of 
another, that will, once for all, answer the public 
purposes, and obviate a repetition of the demand. 
It ought by all means to be attempted ; and con- 
gress should frame a general plan, and press the 
execution upon the states. When the confedera- 
tion comes to be framed, it ought to provide for this, 
by a fundamental law; and hereafter there would 
be no doubt of the success. But we cannot now 
wait for this : we want to replace the men whose 
time of service will expire the first of January ; for 
then, without this, we shall have no army remain- 
ing, and the enemy may do what they please. The 
General, in his letter already quoted, has assigned 
the most substantial reasons for paying immediate 
attention to this point. 

Congress should endeavour, both upon their 
credit in Europe, and by every possible exertion in 
this country, to provide clothing for their officers, 
and should abolish the whole system of state sup- 
plies. The making good the depreciation of the 
currency, and all other compensations to the army, 
should be immediately taken up by congress, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 97 

and not left to the states ; if they would have the 
accounts of depreciation liquidated, and govern- 
mental certificates given for what is due, in specie 
or an equivalent to specie, it would give satis- 
faction, appointing periodical settlements for future 
depreciation. 

The placing the officers upon half-pay, during life, 
would be a great stroke of policy, and would give 
congress a stronger tie upon them than anything 
else they can do. No man, that reflects a moment, 
but will prefer a permanent provision of this kind, 
to any temporary compensation ; nor is it opposed 
to economy; the difference between this, and what 
has already been done, will be insignificant. The 
benefit of it to the widows, should be confined to 
those whose husbands die during the war. As to 
the survivors, not more than one half, on the usual 
calculation of men's lives, will exceed the seven 
years for which the half-pay is already established. 
Besides this, whatever may be the visionary specu- 
lations of some men at this time, we shall find it 
indispensable, after the war, to keep on foot a con- 
siderable body of troops; and all the officers 
retained for this purpose must be deducted out of 
the half-pay list. If anyone will take the pains to 



98 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

calculate the expense on these principles, I am per- 
suaded he will find the addition of expense from 
the establishment proposed, by no means a national 
object. 

The advantages of securing the attachment of 
the army to congress, and binding them to the 
service, by substantial ties are immense. 

We should then, have discipline ; an army, in 
reality, as well as in name. Congress would then 
have a solid basis of authority and consequence; 
for with me it is an axiom, that in our constitution 
an army is essential to the American union. 

The providing of supplies is the pivot of every- 
thing else ; (though a well constituted army would 
not in a small degree conduce to this, by giving 
consistency and weight to government,) there are 
four ways, all of which must be united, — a foreign 
loan, — heavy pecuniary taxes, — a tax in kind, — 
a bank founded on public and private credit. 

As to a foreign loan. Congress, I dare say, are doing 
everything in their power to obtain it. The most 
effectual way will be, to tell France that without it 
we must make terms with Great Britain. This 
must be done with plainness and firmness, but with 
respect and without petulance ; not as a menace, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 99 

but as a candid declaration of our circumstances. 
We need not fear to be deserted by France ; her 
interest and honour are too deeply involved in our 
fate ; and she can make no possible compromise. 
She can assist us, if she is convinced it is absolutely 
necessary, either by lending us, herself, or by be- 
coming our surety, or by influencing Spain. It 
has been to me astonishing, how any man could 
have doubted, at any period of our affairs, of the 
necessity of a foreign loan. It was self-evident 
that we had not a fund of wealth in this country, 
capable of affording revenues equal to the expenses. 
We must, then, create artificial revenues, or bor- 
row ; the first was done, but it ought to have 
been foreseen that the expedient could not last, 
and we should have provided in time for its failure. 
Here was an error of congress. I have good 
reason to believe that measures were not taken in 
earnest early enough to procure a loan abroad : I 
give you my honour, that from our first outset, I 
thought as I do now ; and wished for a foreign loan, 
not only because I foresaw that it would be essen- 
tial, but because I considered it a tie upon the 
nation from which it was derived, and as a mean to 

prop our cause in Europe. 
L.ofC. 



loo A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Concerning the necessity of heavy pecuniary 
taxes, I need say nothing, as it is a point in which 
everybody is agreed ; nor is there any danger that 
the product of any taxes raised in this way will 
overburthen the people, or exceed the wants of 
the public. Indeed, if all the paper in circulation 
were drawn annually into the treasury, it would 
neither do one nor the other. 

As to a tax in kind, the necessity of it results 
from this principle, — that the money in circula- 
tion is not a sufHcient representative of that part 
of the products of the country, which it is bound 
to contribute to the support of the public. The 
public, therefore, to obtain its due, or to satisfy its 
just demands and its wants, must call for a part of 
these products themselves. This is done in all 
those countries which are not commercial ; in 
Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, &c., and is 
peculiarly necessary in our case. 

Congress, in calling for specific supplies, seem to 
have had this in view ; but their intention has not 
been answered. The states, in general, have under- 
taken to furnish the supplies by purchase, — a 
mode, as I have observed, attended with every 
inconvenience, and subverting the principle on 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS loi 

which the supplies were demanded, — the insuf- 
ficiency of our circulating medium, as a representa- 
tive for the labour and commodities of the country. 
It is, therefore, necessary, that congress should be 
more explicit ; should form the outlines of a plan 
for a tax in kind, and recommend it to the states, 
as a measure of absolute necessity. 

The general idea I have of a plan is, that a 
respectable man should be appointed by the state 
in each county to collect the taxes, and form maga- 
zines; that congress should have in each state an 
officer to superintend the whole, and that the state 
collectors should be subordinate and responsible 
to them. This continental superintendent might 
be subject to the general direction of the quarter- 
master-general, or not, as might be deemed best ; 
but if not subject to him, he should be obliged to 
make monthly returns to the President at War, 
who should instruct him what proportion to 
deliver to the quarter-master-general. It may be 
necessary that the superintendents should some- 
times have power to dispose of the articles in 
their possession, on public account; for it would 
happen, that the contributions, in places remote 
from the army, could not be transported to the 



I02 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

theatre of operations without too great expense; 
in which case, it would be eHgible to dispose of 
them, and purchase with the money so raised 
in the counties near the immediate seat of 
war. 

I know the objections which may be raised to 
this plan — its tendency to discourage industry and 
the like ; but necessity calls for it ; we cannot pro- 
ceed without, and less evils must give place to 
greater. It is, besides, practiced with success in 
other countries, and why not in this? It may be 
said, the examples cited are from nations under 
despotic governments, and that the same would 
not be practicable with us ; but I contend, where 
the public good is evidently the object, more may 
be effected in governments like ours than in any 
other. It has been a constant remark, that free 
countries have ever paid the heaviest taxes ; the 
obedience of a free people to general laws, however 
hard they bear, is ever more perfect than that of 
slaves to the arbitrary will of a prince. To this, 
it may be added, that Sweden was always a free 
government, and is so now, in a great degree, 
notwithstanding the late revolution. 

How far it may be practicable to erect a bank 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 103 

on the faint credit of the republic, and of indi- 
viduals, can only be certainly determined by the 
experiment ; but it is of so much importance that 
the experiment ought to be fully tried. When I 
saw the subscriptions going on to the bank estab- 
lished for supplying the army, I was in hopes it 
was only the embryo of a more permanent and 
extensive establishment. But I have reason to 
believe I shall be disappointed. It does not seem 
to be at all conducted on the true principles of a 
bank. The directors of it are purchasing with 
their stock, instead of bank notes as I expected; 
in consequence of which, it must turn out to be a 
mere subscription of a particular sum of money, 
for a particular purpose. 

Paper credit never was long supported in any 
country, on a national scale, where it was not 
founded on the joint basis of public and private 
credit. An attempt to establish it on public credit 
alone, in France, under the auspices of Mr. Law, 
nearly ruined the kingdom. We have seen the 
effects of it in America ; and every successive ex- 
periment proves the futility of the attempt. Our 
new money is depreciating almost as fast as the 
old, though it has, in some states, as real funds as 



104 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

paper money ever had. The reason is, that the 
moneyed men have not an immediate interest to 
uphold its credit. They may even, in many ways, 
find it their interest to undermine it. The only 
certain manner to obtain a permanent paper credit, 
is to engage the moneyed interest immediately in 
it, by making them contribute the whole or part 
of the stock, and giving them the whole or part of 
the profits. 

The invention of banks, on the modern princi- 
ple, originated in Venice. There, the public, and 
a company of moneyed men, are mutually con- 
cerned. The Bank of England unites public 
authority and faith, with private credit ; and hence 
we see what a vast fabric of paper credit is raised 
on a visionary basis. Had it not been for this, 
England would never have found sufficient funds 
to carry on her wars; but with the help of this, 
she has done, and is doing, wonders. The Bank 
of Amsterdam is on a similar foundation. 

And why cannot we have an American bank } 
Are our moneyed men less enlightened to their 
own interest, or less enterprising in the pursuit.'* 
I believe the fault is in government, which does 
not exert itself to engage them in such a scheme. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 105 

It is true, the individuals in America are not 
very rich ; but this would not prevent their insti- 
tuting a bank ; it would only prevent its being 
done with such ample funds as in other countries. 
Have they not sufficient confidence in the govern- 
ment, and in the issue of the cause? Let the 
government endeavour to inspire that confidence, 
by adopting the measures I have recommended, 
or others equivalent to them. Let it exert itself 
to procure a solid confederation — to establish a 
good plan of executive administration, — to form 
a permanent military force, — to obtain, at all 
events, a foreign loan. If these things were in a 
train of vigorous execution, it would give a new 
spring to our affairs ; government would recover 
its respectability, and individuals would renounce 
their diffidence. 

The object I should propose to myself, in the 
first instance, from a bank, would be an auxiliary 
mode of supplies ; for which purpose contracts 
should be made between government and the 
bank, on terms liberal and advantageous to the 
latter. Everything should be done, in the first 
instance, to encourage the bank ; after it gets 
well established it will take care of itself, and 



io6 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

government may make the best terms it can, for 
itself. 

The first step to estabhshing the bank, will be 
to engage a number of moneyed men of influence 
to relish the project, and make it a business. The 
subscribers to that lately established, are the fittest 
persons that can be found ; and their plan may be 
interwoven. 

The outlines of my plan would be to open sub- 
scriptions, in all the states, for the stock, which we 
will suppose to be one million of pounds. Real 
property, of every kind, as well as specie, should 
be deemed good stock; but at least a fourth part 
of the subscription should be in specie or plate. 
There should be one great company, in three divi- 
sions ; in Virginia, Philadelphia, and Boston; or 
two at Philadelphia and Boston. The bank should 
have a right to issue bank notes, bearing two per 
cent, interest for the whole of their stock ; but not 
to exceed it. These notes may be payable every 
three months, or oftener ; and the faith of govern- 
ment must be pledged for the support of the bank. 
It must, therefore, have a right, from time to time, 
to inspect its operations ; and must appoint inspec- 
tors for the purpose. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 107 

The advantages of the bank may consist in this: 
in the profits of the contracts made with govern- 
ment, which should bear interest, to be annually 
paid in specie ; in the loan of money at interest, 
say six per cent, in purchasing lives by annuities, 
as practiced in England, &c. The benefit result- 
ing to the company is evident, from the considera- 
tion, that they may employ in circulation a great 
deal more money than they have specie in stock, 
on the credit of the real property which they will 
have in other use. This money will be employed, 
either in fulfilling their contracts with the public, 
by which, also, they will gain a profit, or in loans, 
at an advantageous interest, or in annuities. 

The bank may be allowed to purchase plate and 
bullion, and coin money, allowing government a 
part of the profit. 

I make the bank notes bear interest, to obtain 
a readier currency, and to induce the holders to 
prefer them to specie, to prevent too great a run 
upon the bank, at any time, beyond its ability to 
pay. 

If government can obtain a foreign loan, it 
should lend to the bank, on easy terms, to extend 
its influence, and facilitate a compliance with its 



io8 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

engagements. If government could engage the 
states to raise a sum of money in specie, to be de- 
posited in bank in the same manner, it would be of 
the greatest consequence. If government could pre- 
vail on the enthusiasm of the people, to make a con- 
tribution in plate, for the same purpose, if would be 
a master stroke. Things of this kind sometimes 
succeed in popular contests ; and if undertaken 
with address, I should not despair of its success; 
but I should not be sanguine. 

The bank may be instituted for a term of years, 
by way of trial ; and the particular privilege of coin- 
ing money may be for a term still shorter. 

A temporary transfer of it to a particular com- 
pany can have no inconvenience, as the govern- 
ment are in no condition to improve this resource ; 
nor could it, in our circumstances, be an object 
to it, though with the industry of a knot of indi- 
viduals, it might be a valuable one to them. 

A bank of this kind, even in its commencement, 
would answer the most valuable purposes to gov- 
ernment, and to the proprietors; in its progress 
the advantages will exceed calculation. It will 
promote commerce, by furnishing a more extensive 
medium, which we greatly want, in our circum- 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 109 

stances. I mean a more extensive, valuable me- 
dium. We have an enormous nominal one at this 
time ; but it is only a name. 

In the present unsettled state of things, in this 
country, we can hardly draw inferences, from what 
has happened in others ; otherwise I should be 
certain of the success of this scheme ; but I think 
it has enough in its favour to be worthy of trial. 

I have only skimmed the surface of the different 
subjects I have introduced. Should the plans 
recommended come into contemplation in earnest, 
and you desire my farther thoughts, I will endeav- 
our to give them more form and particularity. 

I am persuaded a solid confederation, a perma- 
nent army, a reasonable prospect of subsisting it, 
would give us treble consideration in Europe, and 
produce a peace this winter. 

If a convention is called, the minds of all the 
states and the people ought to be prepared to 
receive its determinations by sensible and popular 
writings, which should conform to the views of 
congress. There are epochs in human affairs, 
when novelty even is useful. If a general opinion 
prevails that the old way is bad, whether true or 
false, and this obstructs or relaxes the operations 



no A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

of the public service, a change is necessary if it 
be but for the sake of change. This is exactly 
the case now. 'Tis an universal sentiment that 
our present system is a bad one, and that things 
do not go right on this account. The measure 
of a convention would revive the hopes of 
the people, and give a new direction to their 
passions, which may be improved in carrying 
points of substantial utility. The eastern states 
have already pointed out this mode to congress: 
they ought to take the hint and anticipate the 
others. 

And in future, my dear sir, two things let me 
recommend, as fundamental rules for the conduct 
of congress: to attach the army to them by every 
motive, — to maintain an authority (not domineer- 
ing) in all their measures with the states. The 
manner in which a thing is done, has more in- 
fluence than is commonly imagined. Men are 
governed by opinion : this opinion is as much 
influenced by appearances as by realities. If a 
government appears to be confident of its own 
powers, it is the surest way to inspire the same 
confidence in others. If it is diffident, it may be 
certain there will be a still greater diffidence in 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS iii 

others, and that its authority will not only be 
distrusted, controverted, but contemned. 

I wish, too, congress would always consider, that 
a kindness consists as much in the manner as 
in the thing. The best things, done hesitatingly, 
and with an ill grace, lose their effect, and pro- 
duce disgust rather than satisfaction or gratitude. 
In what congress have at any time done for the 
army, they have commonly been too late. They 
have seemed to yield to importunity, rather than 
to sentiments of justice, or to a regard to the 
accommodation of their troops. An attention to 
this idea is of more importance than it may be 
thought. I, who have seen all the workings and 
progress of the present discontents, am convinced 
that a want of this has not been among the most 
inconsiderable causes. 

You will perceive, my dear sir, this letter is 
hastily written, and with a confidential freedom, 
not as to a member of congress, whose feelings 
may be sore at the prevailing clamour; but as 
to a friend who is in a situation to remedy public 
disorders, — who wishes for nothing so much as 
truth, and who is desirous for information, even 
from those less capable of judging than himself. 



112 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

I have not even time to correct and copy, and 
only enough to add, that I am, very truly and 
affectionately, dear sir, 

Your most obedient servant, 

A. Hamilton. 



To GENERAL SCHUYLER 

Head Quarters, New Windsor, 
February i8th, 1781. 

My dear Sir, — Since I had the pleasure of 
writing you last, an unexpected change has taken 
place in my situation. I am no longer a member 
of the General's family. This information will 
surprise you, and the manner of the change will 
surprise you more. Two days ago, the General 
and I passed each other on the stairs ; — he told 
me he wanted to speak to me, — I answered that 
I would wait upon him immediately. I went 
below and delivered Mr. Tilghman a letter to 
be sent to the commissary, containing an order 
of a pressing and interesting nature. 

Returning to the General, I was stopped on 
the way by the Marquis de La Fayette and we 
conversed together about a minute on a matter 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 113 

of business. He can testify how impatient I was 
to get back, and that I left him in a manner which, 
but for our intimacy, would have been more than 
abrupt. Instead of finding the General, as is 
usual, in his room, I met him at the head of 
the stairs, where accosting me in an angry tone, 
" Colonel Hamilton, (said he,) you have kept me 
waiting at the head of the stairs these ten min- 
utes ; — I must tell you, sir, you treat me with 
disrespect." I replied without petulancy, but with 
decision, " I am not conscious of it, sir, but since 
you have thought it necessary to tell me so, we 
part." " Very well, sir, (said he,) if it be your 
choice," or something to this effect, and we sepa- 
rated. I sincerely believe my absence, which 
gave so much umbrage, did not last two min- 
utes. 

In less than an hour after, Tilghman came to me 
in the General's name, assuring me of his great 
confidence in my abilities, integrity, usefulness, &c., 
and of his desire, in a candid conversation, to heal 
a difference which could not have happened but in 
a moment of passion. I requested Mr. Tilghman 
to tell him, — ist. That I had taken my resolution 
in a manner not to be revoked. 2d. That as a 



114 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

conversation could serve no other purpose than to 
produce explanations, mutually disagreeable, though 
I certainly would not refuse an interview, if he 
desired it, yet I would be happy, if he would permit 
me to decline it. 3d. That though determined to 
leave the family, the same principles which had 
kept me so long in it, would continue to direct my 
conduct towards him when out of it. 4th. That, 
however, I did not wish to distress him, or the pub- 
lic business, by quitting him before he could derive 
other assistance by the return of some of the gentle- 
men who were absent. 5th. And that in the mean 
time, it depended on him, to let our behaviour to 
each other be the same as if nothing had happened. 
He consented to decline the conversation, and 
thanked me for my offer of continuing my aid in 
the manner I had mentioned. 

I have given you so particular a detail of our dif- 
ference, from the desire I have to justify myself in 
your opinion. Perhaps you may think I was pre- 
cipitate in rejecting the overture made by the Gen- 
eral to an accommodation. I assure you, my dear 
sir, it was not the effect of resentment ; it was the 
deliberate result of maxims I had long formed for 
the government of my own conduct. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 115 

I always disliked the office of an aid-de-camp, 
as having in it a kind of personal dependence. I 
refused to serve in this capacity with two Major 
Generals, at an early period of the war. Infected, 
however, with the enthusiasm of the times, an idea 
of the General's character overcame my scruples, 
and induced me to accept his invitation to enter 
into his family. It has been often with great diffi- 
culty that I have prevailed upon myself not to 
renounce it ; but while, from motives of public 
utility, I was doing violence to my feelings, I was 
always determined, if there should ever happen a 
breach between us, never to consent to an accom- 
modation. I was persuaded, that when once that 
nice barrier, which marked the boundaries of what 
we owed to each other, should be thrown down, 
it might be propped again, but could never be 
restored. 

The General is a very honest man; — his com- 
petitors have slender abilities, and less integrity. 
His popularity has often been essential to the safety 
of America, and is still of great importance to it. 
These considerations have influenced my past con- 
duct respecting him, and will influence my future ; 
— I think it is necessary he should be supported. 



ii6 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

His estimation in your mind, whatever may be 
its amount, I am persuaded has been formed on 
principles, which a circumstance hke this cannot 
materially affect ; but if I thought it could diminish 
your friendship for him, I should almost forego the 
motives that urge me to justify myself to you. I 
wish what I have said to make no other impression, 
than to satisfy you I have not been in the wrong. 
It is also said in confidence, as a public knowledge 
of the breach would, in many ways, have an ill 
effect. It will, probably, be the policy of both sides 
to conceal it, and cover the separation with some 
plausible pretext. I am importuned by such of 
my friends as are privy to the affair, to listen 
to a reconciliation; but my resolution is unalter- 
able. 

As I cannot think of quitting the army during 
the war, I have a project of re-entering into the artil- 
lery, by taking Lieutenant Colonel Forrest's place, 
who is desirous of retiring on half pay. I have not, 
however, made up my mind on this head, as I 
should be obliged to come in the youngest lieuten- 
ant colonel instead of the eldest, which I ought to 
have been by natural succession, had I remained in 
the corps ; and, at the same time, to resume studies 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 117 

relative to the profession, which to avoid inferiority, 
must be laborious. 

If a handsome command in the campaign in the 
light infantry should offer itself, I shall balance 
between this and the artillery. My situation in 
the latter would be more solid and permanent; 
but as I hope the war will not last long enough 
to make it progressive, this consideration has the 
less force. A command for the campaign would 
leave me the winter to prosecute studies relative 
to my future career in life. I have written to you 
on this subject with all the freedom and confidence 
to which you have a right, and with an assurance 
of the interest you take in all that concerns me. 
Very sincerely and affectionately, 
I am, dear sir. 

Your most obedient servant, 

A. Hamilton. 

To MRS. HAMILTON 

August, 1 78 1. 

In my last letter I informed you that there was 
a greater prospect of activity now, than there had 
been heretofore. I did this to prepare your mind 
for an event, which, I am sure, will give you pain. 



ii8 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

I begged your father at the same time to intimate 
to you by degrees the probability of its taking 
place. I used this method to prevent a surprise 
which might be too severe to you. A part of 
the army, my dear girl, is going to Virginia, and 
I must of necessity be separated at a much greater 
distance from my beloved wife. I cannot announce 
the fatal necessity without feeling everything that 
a fond husband can feel. I am unhappy ; — I am 
unhappy beyond expression. I am unhappy be- 
cause I am to be so remote from you ; because I 
am to hear from you less frequently than I am 
accustomed to do. I am miserable because I know 
you will be so ; I am wretched at the idea of 
flying so far from you, without a single hour's 
interview, to tell you all my pains and all my 
love. But I cannot ask permission to visit you. 
It might be thought improper to leave my corps 
at such a time and upon such an occasion. I 
must go without seeing you, — I must go without 
embracing you: — alas! I must go. But let no 
idea, other than of the distance we shall be asunder, 
disquiet you. Though I said the prospects of 
activity will be greater, I said it to give your ex- 
pectations a different turn, and prepare you for 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 119 

something disagreeable. It is ten to one that 
our views will be disappointed, by Cornwallis 
retiring to South Carohna by land. At all events, 
our operations will be over by the latter end of 
October, and I will fly to my home. Don't men- 
tion I am going to Virginia. 

And a few days later, from the head of the Elk, 
he writes : — 

Yesterday, my lovely wife, I wrote to you enclos- 
ing you a letter in one to your father, to the care of 
Mr. Morris. To-morrow the post sets out, and 
to-morrow we embark for York Town. I cannot 
refuse myself the pleasure of writing you a few 
lines. Constantly uppermost in my thoughts and 
affections, I am happy only when my moments are 
devoted to some office that respects you. I would 
give the world to be able to tell you all I feel, and 
all I wish, but consult your own heart and then you 
will know mine. What a world will soon be 
between us ! To support the idea all my forti- 
tude is insufficient. What must be the case with 
you who have the most female of female hearts ? 
I sink at the perspective of your distress, and I 
look to heaven to be your guardian and supporter. 



120 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LEITERS 

Circumstances which have just come to my know- 
ledge, assure me that our operations will be expe- 
ditious, as well as our success certain. Early in 
November, as I promised you, we shall certainly 
meet. Cheer yourself with this idea, and with 
the assurance of never more being separated. 
Every day confirms me in the intention of re- 
nouncing public life, and devoting myself wholly 
to you. Let others waste their time and their 
tranquillity in a vain pursuit of power and glory ; — 
be it my object to be happy in a quiet retreat, with 
my better angel. 

And from Annapolis : — 

How checquered is human life? — how precarious 
is happiness? — how easily do we often part with it 
for a shadow? These are the reflections that fre- 
quently intrude themselves upon me, with a pain- 
ful application. I am going to do my duty. Our 
operations will be so conducted as to economize the 
lives of men. Exert your fortitude and rely upon 
heaven. 




ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 121 

From COLONEL HARRISON 

New Windsor, 1781. 

I came here, my dear Hamilton, on Friday night 
to bid adieu to the General, to you, and to my other 
friends as a military man, and regretted much that 
I had not the happiness of seeing you. To-morrow 
I am obliged to depart, and it is possible our sepa- 
ration may be for ever. But be this as it may, it 
can only be with respect to our persons, for as to 
affection, mine for you will continue to my latest 
breath. This event will probably surprise you, but 
from your knowledge of me, I rely you will con- 
clude at the instant, that no light considerations 
would have taken me from the army ; and, I think, 
I might safely have rested the matter here. How- 
ever, as the friendship between us gives you a claim 
to something more, and as I am not indifferent 
about character, and shall be anxious to have the 
esteem of all who are good and virtuously great, I 
shall detail to you, my friend, the more substantial 
reasons which have led to my present conduct. I 
go from the army, then, because I have found, on 
examination, that my little fortune, earned by an 



122 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

honest and hard industry, was becoming embar- 
rassed ; to attend to the education of my children ; 
. . . and because the State of Maryland, in a flat- 
tering manner, have been pleased to appoint me to 
a place, very respectable in its nature, correspond- 
ing to my former, and interesting to my whole fu- 
ture life and support : — they have appointed me to 
the chair of the Supreme Court. These, my friend, 
are the motives to my present resolution. My own 
feelings are satisfied on the occasion, though I can- 
not but regret parting with the most valuable ac- 
quaintances I have, and I hope they will justify me 
most fully to you, my Hamilton, especially when 
you consider the time I have been in the service, 
and the compensation I have received. Adieu. 
Yours, in haste, most affectionately, 

RoBT. H. Harrison. 



Ill 

LAW, POLITICS, AND DOMESTICITY 



To MEADE 

Philadelphia, March, 1782. 

A half hour since brought me the pleasure of 
your letter of December last. It went to Albany 
and came from thence to this place. I heartily 
felicitate you on the birth of your daughter. I can 
well conceive your happiness upon that occasion, by 
that which I felt on a similar one. 

Indeed, the sensations of a tender father of the 
child of a beloved mother, can only be conceived by 
those who have experienced them. 

Your heart, my Meade, is peculiarly formed for 
enjoyments of this kind. You have every right to 
be a happy husband, a happy father. You have 
every prospect of being so. I hope your felicity 
may never be interrupted. 

You cannot imagine how entirely domestic I am 
growing. I lose all tastes for the pursuits of ambi- 
tion. I sigh for nothing but for the company of 
my wife and my baby. The ties of duty alone, or 
imagined duty, keep me from renouncing public life 
altogether. It is, however, probable I may not be 
any longer actively engaged in it. 

125 



126 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

I have explained to you the difficulties I met 
with in obtaining a command last campaign. I 
thought it incompatible with the delicacy due to 
myself to make any application this campaign. I 
have expressed this sentiment in a letter to the 
General, and, retaining my rank only, have relin- 
quished the emoluments of my commission, declar- 
ing myself, notwithstanding, ready at all times to 
obey the calls of the public. I do not expect to 
hear any of these, unless the state of our affairs 
should change for the worse ; and lest, by any un- 
foreseen accident that should happen, I choose to 
keep myself in a situation again to contribute my 
aid. This prevents a total resignation. 

You were right in supposing I neglected to 
prepare what I promised you at Philadelphia. 
The truth is, I was in such a hurry to get home, 
that I could think of nothing else. As I set out 
to-morrow morning for Albany, I cannot, from this 
place, send you the matter you wish. 

Imagine, my dear Meade, what pleasure it must 
give Eliza and myself to know that Mrs. Meade 
interests herself in us. Without a personal 
acquaintance, we have been long attached to her. 
My visit at Mr. Fitzhugh's confirmed my partiality. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 127 

Betsey is so fond of your family, that she proposes 
to form a match between her boy and your girl, 
provided you will engage to make the latter as 
amiable as her mother. 

Truly, my dear Meade, I often regret that 
fortune has cast our residence at such a distance 
from each other. It would be a serious addition 
to my happiness if we lived where I could see 
you every day ; but fate has determined it other- 
wise. I am a little hurried, and can only request, 
in addition, that you will present me most affec- 
tionately to Mrs. Meade, and believe me to be, 
with the warmest and most unalterable friendship, 

Yours, 

A. Hamilton. 

To LAURENS 

August isth, 1782. 

I received with great pleasure, my dear Laurens, 

the letter which you wrote me in last. Your 

wishes in one respect are gratified. This State 
has pretty unanimously elected me to Congress. 
My time of service commences in November. It 
is not probable it will result in what you mention. 
I hope it is too late. We have great reason to 



128 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

flatter ourselves. Peace on our own terms is 
upon the carpet. The making it is in good 
hands. It is said your father is exchanged for 
Cornwallis, and gone to Paris to meet the other 
commissioners, and that Granville, on the part of 
England, has made a second trip there ; in the 
last instance vested with plenipotentiary powers. 

I fear there may be obstacles, but I hope they 
may be surmounted. 

Peace made, my dear friend, a new scene opens. 
The object then will be to make our independence 
a blessing. To do this we must secure our Union 
on solid foundations — a herculean task — and to 
effect which mountains of prejudice must be lev- 
elled! It requires all the virtue and all the abili- 
ties of the country. Quit your sword, my friend ; 
put on the toga. Come to Congress. We know 
each other's sentiments; our views are the same. 
We have fought side by side to make America 
free ; let us hand in hand struggle to make her 
happy. Remember me to General Greene with 
all the warmth of a sincere attachment. 

Yours for ever, 

A. H.^ 

1 This was Hamilton's last letter to Laurens, who doubtless was 
killed before it reached him. — Ed. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 129 



To MEADE 

Albany, August 27th, 1782. 

I thank you, my dear Meade, for your letter of 
the first of this month, which you will perceive 
has travelled much faster than has been usual 
with our letters. Our correspondence hitherto, 
has been unfortunate, nor in fact can either of 
us compliment himself on his punctuality; but 
you were right in concluding, that however indo- 
lence or accident may interrupt our intercourse, 
nothing will interrupt our friendship. Mine for 
you is built on the solid basis of a full convic- 
tion that you deserve it, and that it is reciprocal, 
and it is the more firmly fixed because you have few 
competitors. Experience is a continued comment 
on the worthlessness of the human race, and the 
few exceptions we find have the greater right to 
be valued in proportion as they are rare. I know 
few men estimable, fewer amiable, and when I 
meet with one of the last description it is not in 
my power to withhold my affection. 

You reproach me with not having said enough 
about our little stranger. When I wrote last, I 



130 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

was not sufficiently acquainted with him to give 
you his character. I may now assure you that 
your daughter, when she sees him, will not con- 
sult you about the choice, or will only do so in 
respect to the rules of decorum. He is truly a 
very fine young gentleman, the most agreeable in 
his conversation and manners of any I ever knew, 
nor less remarkable for his intelligence and sweet- 
ness of temper. You are not to imagine, by my 
beginning with his mental qualifications, that he 
is defective in personal. It is agreed, on all 
hands, that he is handsome; his features are good, 
his eye is not only sprightly and expressive, but 
it is full of benignity. His attitude, in sitting, is, 
by connoisseurs, esteemed graceful, and he has a 
method of waving his hand that announces the 
future orator. He stands, however, rather awk- 
wardly, and as his legs have not all the delicate 
slimness of his father's, it is feared he may never 
excel as much in dancing, which is probably the 
only accomplishment in which he will not be a 
model. If he has any fault in manners, he laughs 
too much. He has now passed his seventh month. 
I am glad to find your prospect of being set- 
tled approaches. I am sure you will realize all 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 131 

the happiness you promise yourself with your ami- 
able partner. I wish fortune had not cast our 
lots at such a distance. Mrs. Meade, you, Betsey, 
and myself, would make a most affectionate and 
most happy partie quarre. 

As to myself I shall sit down in New York, 
when it opens, and the period, we are told, ap- 
proaches. No man looks forward to a peace with 
more pleasure than I do, though no man would 
sacrifice less to it than myself, if I were not con- 
vinced the people sigh for peace. I have been 
studying the law for some months, and have lately 
been licensed as an attorney. I wish to prepare my- 
self by October for examination as a counsellor, but 
some public avocations may possibly prevent me. 

I had almost forgotten to tell you that I have 
been pretty unanimously elected by the legislature 
of this state, a member of congress, to begin to serve 
in November. I do not hope to reform the state, 
although I shall endeavour to do all the good I can. 

Suffer Betsey and me to present our love to 
Mrs. Meade. She has a sisterly affection for you. 

My respects, if you choose, to Mr. and Mrs. 
Fitzhugh. God bless you. 

A. Hamilton. 



132 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



To GENERAL GREENE 

Albany, October 12, 1782. 

Dear General, — It is an age since I have either 
written to you or received a line from you ; yet I 
persuade myself you have not been the less con- 
vinced of my affectionate attachment, and warm 
participation in all those events which have given 
you that place in your country's esteem and appro- 
bation which I have known you to deserve, while 
your enemies and rivals were most active in sully- 
ing your reputation. 

You will perhaps learn, before this reaches you, 
that I have been appointed a member of Congress. 
I expect to go to Philadelphia in the ensuing 
month, where I shall be happy to correspond with 
you with all our ancient confidence; and I shall 
entreat you not to confine your observations to 
military subjects, but to take in the whole scope 
of national concerns. I am sure your ideas will 
be useful to me and to the public. 

I feel the deepest affliction at the news we have 
just received of the loss of our dear and estimable 
friend Laurens. His career of virtue is at an end. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 133 

How strangely are human affairs conducted, that 
so many excellent qualities could not insure a 
more happy fate ! The world will feel the loss of 
a man who has left few like him behind, and 
America of a citizen whose heart realized that 
patriotism of which others only talk. I shall feel 
the loss of a friend I most truly and tenderly loved, 
and one of a very small number. 

I take the liberty to enclose a letter to Mr. Kane, 
executor to the estate of Mr. Lavine, a half-brother 
of mine, who died some time since in South 
Carolina. 

I am, dear sir, truly your friend and servant, 

A. Hamilton. 



1 The last and most important paragraph of this letter is but indi- 
cated by stars in the " Works of Alexander Hamilton," which contains 
such a bulk of correspondence that more than one paragraph, believed 
unimportant by J. C. Hamilton, was dropped. But the letter may be 
found in its entirety in the second volume of the " Life," by his son, 
page 7. — Ed. 



134 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



To LAFAYETTE 

Albany, November 3, 1782. 

Since we parted, my dear Marquis, at York-town, 
I have received three letters from you ; one written 
on your way to Boston, two from France. I 
acknowledge that I have written to you only 
once; but the reason has been, that I have been 
taught daily to expect your return. This I should 
not have done from my own calculations ; for I saw 
no prospect but of an inactive campaign ; and you 
had much better be intriguing for your hobbyhorse 
at Paris, than loitering away your time here. Yet 
they seem to be convinced, at head quarters, that 
you were certainly coming out ; and by your letters 
it appears to have been your own expectation. I 
imagine you have relinquished it by this time. 

I have been employed for the last ten months in 
rocking the cradle and studying the art of Jleecing 
my neighbours. I am now a grave counsellor-at- 
law, and shall soon be a grave member of Congress. 
The Legislature, at their last session, took it into 
their heads to name me, pretty unanimously, one of 
their delegates. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 135 

I am going to throw away a few more months in 
public life, and then retire a simple citizen and good 
paterfamilias. I set out for Philadelphia in a few 
days. You see the disposition I am in. You are 
condemned to run the race of ambition all your life. 
I am already tired of the career, and dare to leave it. 

But you would not give a pin for my letter 
unless politics and war made a part of it. 

,UL jUL ^L ^UU ^jm jfr 

Is there anything you wish on this side of the 
water.? You know the warmth and sincerity of 
my attachment. • Command me. 

I have not been so happy as to see M. De Segur. 
The title of your friend would have been a title to 
everything in my power to manifest. 

Yours pour la vie^ 

A. Hamilton. 

P.S. I wrote a long letter to the Viscount de 
Noailles, whom I also love. Has he received it.? 
Is the worthy Gouvion well ? Has he succeeded .? 
How is it with our friend Gimat } How is it 
with General du Portail .? 

Poor Laurens ! He has fallen a sacrifice to his 
ardour in a trifling skirmish in South Carolina. 



136 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

You know how truly I loved him, and will judge 

how much I regret him. 

I will write you again soon after my arrival at 

Philadelphia. ^ . ^ 

^ A. H. 

To JAMES HAMILTON, JR. 

New- York, June 23, 1783. 

My dear Brother, — I have received your letter 
of the 31st of May last, which, and one other, are 
the only letters I have received from you in many 
years. I am a little surprised you did not receive one 
which I wrote to you about six months ago. The 
situation you describe yourself to be in gives me 
much pain, and nothing will make me happier than, 
as far as may be in my power, to contribute to 
your relief. 

I will cheerfully pay your draft upon me for 
fifty pounds sterling, whenever it shall appear. 
I wish it was in my power to desire you to enlarge 
the sum ; but though my future prospects are of 
the most flattering kind, my present engagements 
would render it inconvenient for me to advance 
you a larger sum. 

My affection for you, however, will not permit 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 137 

me to be inattentive to your welfare, and I hope 
time will prove to you that I feel all the sentiments 
of a brother. Let me only request you to exert 
your industry for a year or two more where you 
are, and at the end of that time I promise myself 
to be able to invite you to a more comfortable 
settlement in this country. Allow me only to give 
you one caution, which is, to avoid, if possible, 
getting into debt. Are you married or single ? 
If the latter, it is my wish, for many reasons, that 
you may continue in that state. 

But what has become of our dear father ? It is 
an age since I have heard from him, though I 
have written him several letters. Perhaps, alas ! 
he is no more, and I shall not have the pleasing 
opportunity of contributing to render the close of 
his life more happy than the progress of it. My 
heart bleeds at the recollection of his misfortunes 
and embarrassments. Sometimes I flatter myself 
his brothers have extended their support to him, 
and that now he is enjoying tranquillity and ease ; 
at other times I fear he is suffering in indigence. 
I entreat you, if you can, to relieve me from my 
doubts, and let me know how or where he is, if 
alive ; if dead, how and where he died. Should 



138 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

he be alive inform him of my inquiries, beg him 
to write to me, and tell him how ready I shall be to 
devote myself and all I have to his accommodation 
and happiness. 

I do not advise you coming to this country at 
present, for the war has also put things out of 
order here, and people in your business find a sub- 
sistence difficult enough. My object will be, by 
and by, to get you settled on a farm. 

Believe me, always your affectionate friend and 

brother, 

Alex. Hamilton. 

To MRS. HAMILTON 

Philadelphia, July 22, 1783. 
I wrote you, my beloved Eliza, by the last post, 
which I hope will not meet with the same fate that 
many others of my letters must have met with. I 
count upon setting out to see you in four days; but I 
have been so frequently disappointed by unforeseen 
events, that I shall not be without apprehensions of 
being detained, till I have begun my journey. The 
members of Congress are very pressing with me not 
to go away at this time, as the House is thin, and as 
the definitive treaty is momently expected. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 139 

Tell your father that Mr. Rivington, in a letter 
to the South Carolina delegates, has given informa- 
tion, coming to him from Admiral Arbuthnot, that 
the Mercury frigate is arrived at New- York with 
the definitive treaty, and that the city was to be 
evacuated yesterday, by the treaty. 

I am strongly urged to stay a few days for the 
ratification of the treaty; at all events, however, I 
will not be long absent. 

I give you joy of the happy conclusion of this 
important work in which your country has been 
engaged. Now, in a very short time, I hope we 
shall be happily settled in New- York. 

My love to your father. Kiss my boy a thousand 

A. Hamilton. 

From LAFAYETTE 

Paris, April, 1785. 

My dear Hamilton, — Although I have just now 
written to M'Henry, requesting him to impart my 
gazette to you, a very barren one indeed, I feel 
within myself a want to tell you, I love you ten- 
derly. Your brother Church has sailed for 
America, since which I had a letter from his lady, 



I40 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

who is in very good health. By an old letter from 
our friend Greene, I have been delighted to find he 
consents to send his son to be educated with mine ; 
the idea makes me very happy. I wish, dear 
Hamilton, you would honour me with the same 
mark of your friendship and confidence. As there 
is no fear of a war, I intend visiting the Prussian 
and Austrian troops. In one of your New- York 
Gazettes I find an association against the slavery of 
negroes, which seems to me worded in such a way 
as to give no offence to the moderate men of the 
southern States. As I have ever been partial to my 
brethren of colour, I wish, if you are one in the 
society, you would move, in your own name, for my 
being admitted on the list. My best respects wait 
on Mrs. Hamilton. 

Adieu. 

Your affectionate friend. 

La Fayette. 



From WASHINGTON 

Mount Vernon, October i8, 1787. 

Dear Sir, — Your favour, without date, came to 
my hand by the last post. It is with unfeigned 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 141 

concern I perceive that a political dispute has 
arisen between Gov. Clinton and yourself. For 
both of you I have the highest esteem and regard. 
But as you say it is insinuated by some of your 
political adversaries, and may obtain credit, " that 
you palmed yourself upon me and was dismissed 
from my family," and call upon me to do you justice 
by a recital of the facts ; I do, therefore, explicitly 
declare, that both charges are entirely unfounded. 
With respect to the first, I have no cause to believe 
that you took a single step to accomplish, or had 
the most distant idea of receiving an appointment 
in my family until you were invited thereto. And, 
with respect to the second, that your quitting it was 
altogether the effect of your own choice. 

When the situation of this country calls for una- 
nimity and vigour, it is to be lamented that gen- 
tlemen of talent and character should disagree in 
their sentiments for promoting the public weal ; but 
unfortunately this ever has been, and more than 
probable ever will be, the case in the affairs of 
men. 

Having scarcely been from home since my return 
from Philadelphia, I can give but little information 
with respect to the general reception of the new 



142 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

constitution in this State. In Alexandria, however, 
and some of the adjacent counties, it has been 
embraced with an enthusiastic warmth of which I 
had no conception. I expect, notwithstanding, vio- 
lent opposition will be given to it by some characters 
of weight and influence in the State. 

Mrs. Washington unites with me in sending her 
best wishes for Mrs. Hamilton and yourself. 
I am, dear Sir, 
Your most obedient and affectionate friend, 

G. Washington. 

To WASHINGTON 

October 30th, 1787. 

I am much obliged to your Excellency for the 
explicit manner in which you contradict the insinua- 
tions mentioned in my last letter. The only use I 
shall make of your answer will be to put it into the 
hands of a few friends. 

The constitution proposed has in this State warm 
friends, and warm enemies. The first impressions 
everywhere are in its favour; but the artillery of 
its opponents makes some impression. The event 
cannot yet be foreseen. The inclosed is the first 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 143 

number of a series of papers to be written in its 
defence. 

I send you, also, at the request of the Baron 
De Steuben, a printed pamphlet, containing the 
grounds of an application lately made to Congress. 
He tells me there is some reference to you, the 
object of which he does not seem clearly to under- 
stand ; but imagines it may be in your power to be 
of service to him. 

There are public considerations that induce me 
to be somewhat anxious for his success. He is 
fortified with materials, which, in Europe, could 
not fail to establish the belief of the contract he 
alleges. The documents of service he possesses are 
of a nature to convey an exalted idea of them. 
The compensations he has received, though con- 
siderable, if compared with those which have been 
received by American officers, will, according to 
European ideas, be very scanty in application to a 
stranger who is acknowledged to have rendered 
essential services. Our reputation abroad is not 
at present too high. To dismiss an old soldier, 
empty and hungry, to seek the bounty of those on 
whom he has no claims, and to complain of unkind 
returns and violated engagements, will certainly 



144 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

not tend to raise it. I confess, too, there is some- 
thing in my feelings which would incline me in this 
case to go farther than might be strictly necessary, 
rather than drive a man, at the Baron's time of life, 
who has been a faithful servant, to extremities. 
And this is unavoidable if he does not succeed in 
his present attempt. What he asks would, all 
calculations made, terminate in this, an allowance 
of his five hundred and eighty guineas a year. He 
only wishes a recognition of the contract. He 
knows that until affairs mend no money can be 
produced. I do not know how far it may be in 
your power to do him any good ; but I shall be 
mistaken if the considerations I have mentioned do 
not appear to your Excellency to have some weight. 
I remain, with great respect and esteem. 

Your Excellency's obedient servant, 

A. Hamilton. 



IV 

THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY 



To LAFAYETTE 

New York, October 6th, 1789. 

My dear Marqtiis, — I have seen, with a mix- 
ture of pleasure and apprehension, the progress 
of the events which have lately taken place in 
your country. As a friend to mankind and to 
liberty, I rejoice in the efforts which you are 
making to establish it, while I fear much for the 
final success of the attempts, for the fate of those 
I esteem who are engaged in it, and for the 
danger, in case of success, of innovations greater 
than will consist with the real felicity of your 
nation. If your affairs still go well, when this 
reaches you, you will ask why this foreboding of 
evil, when all the appearances have been so much 
in your favour. I will tell you: I dread disagree- 
ments among those who are now united, (which 
will be likely to be improved by the adverse party,) 
about the nature of your constitution ; I dread the 
vehement character of your people, whom I fear 
you may find it more easy to bring on than to keep 

147 



148 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

within proper bounds after you have put them in 
motion. I dread the interested refractoriness of 
your nobles, who cannot all be gratified, and who 
may be unwilling to submit to the requisite sacri- 
fices. And I dread the reveries of your philosophic 
politicians, who appear in the moment to have great 
influence, and who, being mere speculatists, may aim 
at more refinement than suits either with human 
nature or the composition of your nation. 

These, my dear Marquis, are my apprehensions. 
My wishes for your personal success, and that of 
the cause of liberty are incessant. You are com- 
bined with a great and good man ; you will antici- 
pate the name of Necker. I trust you and he 
will never cease to harmonize. 

You will, I presume, have heard before this gets 
to hand, that I have been appointed to the head 
of the finances in this country. This event, I am 
sure will give you pleasure. In undertaking the 
task I hazard much, but I thought it an occasion 
that called upon me to hazard. I have no doubt 
that the reasonable expectation of the public may 
be satisfied, if I am properly supported by the 
Legislature, and in this respect, I stand at present 
on the most encouraging footing. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 149 

The debt due to France, will be among the first 
objects of my attention. Hitherto it has been 
from necessity neglected. The session of Congress 
is now over. It has been exhausted in the organi- 
zation of the government, and in a few laws of 
immediate urgency respecting navigation and com- 
mercial imposts. The subject of the debt, foreign 
and domestic, has been referred to the next session, 
which will commence the first Monday in January 
with an instruction to me to prepare and report a 
plan comprehending an adequate provision for the 
support of the public credit. There were many 
good reasons for a temporary adjournment. 

From this sketch you will perceive that I am 
not in a situation to address anything officially to 
your administration ; but I venture to say to you, 
as my friend, that if the instalments of the principal 
of the debt could be suspended for a few years, 
it would be a valuable accommodation to the 
United States. In this suggestion, I contemplate 
a speedy payment of the arrears of interest now 
due, and effectual provision for the punctual pay- 
ment of future interest as it arises. Could an 
arrangement of this sort meet the approbation of 
your government, it would be best on every ac- 



150 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

count that the offer should come unsolicited as a 
fresh mark of good will. 

I wrote you last by M. de Varville. I presume 
you received my letter. As it touched some deli- 
cate topics, I should be glad to know its fate. 
Yours, with unalterable esteem and affection, 

Alexander Hamilton. 



From GULIAN VERPLANCK 

New-York, 29th December, 1791. 1 

Sir, — A number of your fellow-citizens, desirous 
of expressing the sense they entertain of the im- 
portant services you have rendered your country, 
have raised by subscription a sum of money to 
defray the expense of a portrait of you, to be exe- 
cuted by Mr. Trumbull, and placed in one of our 
public buildings. 

We have therefore to request that you will be 
so condescending as to allow Mr. Trumbull to 
wait upon you for the above purpose, at such 
time as will suit your conveniency; and will also 
be pleased to permit the representation to exhibit 
such part of your political life as may be most 
agreeable to yourself. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 151 

We have the honour to be, with perfect senti- 
ments of esteem and respect, your most humble 
servants, 

GULIAN VeRPLANCK, 

Roger Alden, 

Brockholst Livingston, !■ Committee. 

J. Waddington, 

Carlile Pollock, 

To DUER 

Philadelphia, March 14, 1792. 

My dear Duer^ — Your letter of the nth got 
to hand this day. I am affected beyond measure 
at its contents, especially as it was too late to have 
any influence upon the event you were apprehen- 
sive of, Mr. Wolcott's instructions having gone 
off yesterday. 

I trust, however, the alternative which they 
present to the attorney of the and the dis- 

cretion he will use in managing the affair, will 
enable you to avoid any pernicious eclat, if your 
affairs are otherwise retrievable. 

Be this as it may, act with fortitude and honour. 
If you cannot reasonably hope for a favourable 



152 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

extrication, do not plunge deeper. Have the cour- 
age to make a full stop. Take all the care you can 
in the first place of institutions of public utility, 
and in the next of all fair creditors. 

God bless you and take care of you and your 
family. I have experienced all the bitterness of 
soul on your account which a warm attachment 
can inspire. I will not now pain you with any 
wise remarks, though if you recover the present 
stroke, I shall take great liberties with you. As- 
sure yourself, in good and bad fortune, of my sin- 
cere friendship and affection. 

Adieu, 

A. H. 

From WASHINGTON 

(Marked Private) 

Mount Vernon, 26 August, 1792. 

My dear Sir, — ... Differences in political opin- 
ions are as unavoidable, as, to a certain point, 
they may be necessary; but it is exceedingly to 
be regretted that subjects cannot be discussed 
with temper on the one hand, or decisions sub- 
mitted to, without having the motives which led 
to them improperly implicated on the other; and 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 153 

this regret borders on chagrin, when we find that 
men of abiUties, zealous patriots, having the same 
general objects in view, and the same upright 
intentions to prosecute them, will not exercise 
more charity in deciding on the opinions and 
actions of one another. When matters get to 
such lengths, the natural inference is, that both 
sides have strained the cords beyond their bearing, 
and that the middle course would be found the 
best, until experience shall have decided on the 
right way, or (which is not to be expected, because 
it is denied to mortals) there shall be some in- 
fallible rule by which we could forejudge events. 
Having premised these things, I would fain 
hope that liberal allowances will be made for the 
political opinions of each other; and instead of 
those wounding suspicions, and irritating charges, 
with which some of our gazettes are so strongly 
impregnated, and cannot fail, if persisted in, of 
pushing matters to extremity, and thereby to tear 
the machine asunder, that there might be mutual 
forbearances, and temporizing yieldings on all sides. 
Without these I do not see how the reins of gov- 
ernment are to be managed, or how the Union of 
the States can be much longer preserved. 



154 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

How unfortunate would it be if a fabric so ! 

goodly, erected under so many providential cir- \ 

cumstances, and in its first stages having acquired i 

such respectability, should, from diversity of senti- j 

ments, or internal obstructions to some of the ■ 

acts of government (for I cannot prevail on my- i 

self to believe that these measures are as yet the i 
deliberate acts of a determined party), be harrowing 
our vitals in such a manner as to have brought us 

to the verge of dissolution. Melancholy thought ! i 

But at the same time that it shows the conse- ' 

quences of diversified opinions, when pushed with | 

too much tenacity, it exhibits evidence, also, of | 

the necessity of accommodation, and of the pro- | 

priety of adopting such healing measures as may | 

restore harmony to the discordant members of the ! 
Union, and the governing powers of it. 

I do not mean to apply this advice to any i 

measures which are passed, or to any particular , 

character. I have given it in the same general j 

ter^ns to other officers of the government.^ My ; 

1 Washington had written a similar but sharper letter to Jefferson. ; 
Hamilton, fearing for the permanence of his institutions, had for the 

first time applied himself in print to the demolishment of Jefferson ; and j 

Jefferson and Freneau, in the National Gazette, were hitting back with j 

no inconsiderable venom. j 

I 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 155 

earnest wish is that balsam may be poured into 
all the wounds, which have been given, to pre- 
vent them from gangrening, and from those fatal 
consequences which the community may sustain 
if withheld. The friends of the Union must wish 
this. Those who are not, but wish to see it 
rended, will be disappointed, and all things, I hope 
will go well. 

We have learnt, through the medium of Mr. Har- 
rison to Dr. Craik, that you have some thoughts 
of taking a trip this way. I felt pleasure at 
hearing it, and hope it is unnecessary to add, 
that it would be considerably increased by seeing 
you under this roof ; for you may be assured of 
the sincere and affectionate regard &c. 

To WASHINGTON 

Philadelphia, 9 September, 1792. 

Sir, — I have the pleasure of your private letter 
of the 26th of August. The feelings and views 
which are manifested in that letter are such as 
I expected would exist. And I most sincerely 
regret the causes of the uneasy sensations you 
experience. It is my most anxious wish, as far 



156 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

as you may depend upon me, to smooth the path 
of your administration, and to render it prosperous 
and happy. And, if any prospect shall open of 
healing or terminating the differences which exist, 
I shall most cheerfully embrace it; though I 
consider myself as the deeply injured party. The 
recommendation of such a spirit is worthy of the 
moderation and wisdom which dictated it. And 
if your endeavours should prove unsuccessful, I 
do not hesitate to say, that in my opinion the 
period is not remote when the public good will 
require substitutes for the differing members of 
your administration. The continuance of division 
there must destroy the energy of government, which 
will be little enough with the strictest union. On 
my part there will be a most cheerful acquiescence 
in such a result. 

I trust, Sir, that the greatest frankness has always 
marked, and will always mark, every step of my con- 
duct toward you. In this disposition I cannot con- 
ceal from you, that I have had some instrumentality 
of late in the retaliations, which have fallen upon 
certain characters, and that I find myself placed in 
a situation not to be able to recede for the present. 

I considered myself as compelled to this conduct 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 157 

by reasons public as well as personal, of the most 
cogent nature. I know, that I have been an object 
of uniform opposition from Mr. Jefferson from the 
moment of his coming to the city of New- York to 
enter upon his present office. I know, from the 
most authentic sources, that I have been the frequent 
subject of the most unkind whispers and insinua- 
tions from the same quarter. I have long seen a 
formed party in the legislature under his auspices, 
bent upon my subversion. I cannot doubt, from 
the evidence I possess, that the National Gazette 
was instituted by him for political purposes, and 
that one leading object of it has been to render 
me and all the measures connected with my depart- 
ment as odious as possible. 

Nevertheless, I can truly say, that, except ex- 
planations to confidential friends, I never directly 
or indirectly retaliated till very lately. I can even 
assure you that I was instrumental in preventing 
a very severe and systematic attack upon Mr. 
Jefferson by an association of two or three indi- 
viduals in consequence of the persecution which 
he brought upon the Vice President, by his indis- 
creet and light letter to the printer, transmitting 
Paine s pamphlet. 



158 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

As long as I saw no danger to the government 
from the machinations which were going on, I 
resolved to be a silent sufferer of the injuries which 
were being done me. I determined to avoid giving 
occasion to anything, which could manifest to the 
world dissensions among the principal characters 
of the government; a thing which can never 
happen without weakening its hands, and in some 
degree throwing a stigma upon it. 

But when I no longer doubted, that there was 
a formed party deliberately bent upon the sub- 
version of measures, which in its consequences 
would subvert the government; when I saw that 
the undoing of the funding system in particular 
(which, whatever may be the original merits of that 
system, would prostrate the credit and the honour 
of the nation, and bring the government into con- 
tempt with that description of men, who are in 
every society the only firm supporters of govern- 
ment), was an avowed object of the party; and 
that all possible pains were taking to produce that 
effect by rendering it odious to the body of the 
people, I considered it as a duty to endeavour 
to resist the torrent, and as an effectual means to 
that end, to draw aside the veil from the principal 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 159 

actors. To this strong impulse, to this decided 
conviction, I have yielded. And I think events 
will prove that I have judged rightly. 

Nevertheless, I pledge my honour to you, Sir, 
that, if you shall hereafter form a plan to reunite 
the members of your administration upon some 
steady principle of cooperation, I will faithfully 
concur in executing it during my continuance in 
ofifice. And I will not directly or indirectly say 
or do a thing, that shall endanger a feud. 

I have had it very much at heart to make an 
excursion to Mount Vernon by way of the Federal 
City in the course of this month, and have been 
more than once on the point of asking your per- 
mission for it. But I now despair of being able 
to effect it. I am nevertheless equally obliged for 
your kind invitation. 

With the most faithful and affectionate attach- 
ment, 

I have the honour to remain. Sir, yours, 

Alexander Hamilton. 



i6o A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



JEFFERSON to WASHINGTON 

MONTiCELLO, 9 September, 1792. 

Dear Sir^ — . . . I now take the liberty of pro- 
ceeding to that part of your letter wherein you 
notice the internal dissensions, which have taken 
place within our government, and their disagree- 
able effect on its movements. That such dissen- 
sions have taken place is certain, and even among 
those who are nearest to you in the administra- 
tion. To no one have they given deeper concern 
than myself, to no one equal mortification at being 
myself a part of them. Though I take to myself 
no more than my share of the general observations 
of your letter, yet I am so desirous that even you 
should know the whole truth, that I am glad to 
seize every occasion of developing to you whatever 
I do or think relative to the government, and shall 
therefore ask permission to be more lengthy now, 
than the occasion particularly calls for, or would 
otherwise perhaps justify. 

When I embarked in the government, it was 
with a determination to intermeddle not at all in 
the legislature, and as little as possible with my 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS i6i 

co-departments. The first and only instance of 
variance from the former part of my resolution, 
I was duped into by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and made a tool for forwarding his schemes, not 
then sufficiently understood by me ; and of all 
the errors of my political life, this has occasioned 
me the deepest regret. It has ever been my 
purpose to explain this to you, when from being 
actors on the scene we shall have become unin- 
terested spectators only. The second part of my 
resolution has been religiously observed with the 
war department ; and, as to that of the treasury, 
has never been farther swerved from than by the 
mere enunciation of my sentiments in conversation, 
and chiefly among those, who, expressing the same 
sentiments, drew mine from me. 

If it has been supposed that I have ever in- 
trigued among the members of the legislature to 
defeat the plans of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
it is contrary to all truth. As I never had the 
desire to influence the members, so neither had 
I any other means than my friendships, which I 
valued too highly to risk by usurpations on their 
freedom of judgment and the conscientious pursuit 
of their own sense of duty. That I have utterly, 



i62 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

in my private conversations, disapproved of the 
system of the Secretary of the Treasury, I 
acknowledge and avow; and this was not merely 
a speculative difference. His system flowed from 
principles adverse to liberty, and was calculated 
to undermine and demolish the republic, by creat- 
ing an influence of his department over members 
of the legislature. I saw this influence actually 
produced, and its first fruits to be the establish- 
ment of the great outlines of his project by the 
votes of the very persons, who, having swallowed 
his bait, were laying themselves out to profit by 
his plans; and that, had these persons withdrawn, 
as those interested in a question ever should, the 
vote of the disinterested majority was clearly the 
reverse of what they made it. These were no 
longer the votes then of the representatives of the 
people ; and it was impossible to consider their 
decisions which had nothing in view but to enrich 
themselves, as the measures of the fair majority, 
which ought always to be respected. 

If what was actually doing begat uneasiness in 
those who wished for virtuous government, what 
was further proposed was not less threatening to 
the friends of the constitution. For, in a report 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 163 

on the subject of manufactures (still to be acted 
upon), it was expressly assumed, that the general 
government has a right to exercise all powers, 
which may be for the general welfare^ that is to 
say, all the legitimate powers of government ; since 
no government has a legitimate right to do what 
is not for the welfare of the governed. There was 
indeed a sham limitation of the universality of this 
power to cases where money is to be employed. But 
about what is it that money cannot be employed ? 
Thus the object of these plans taken together is 
to draw all the powers of government into the 
hands of the general legislature, to establish means 
for corrupting a sufficient corps in that legislature 
to divide the honest votes, and preponderate by 
their own the scale which suited, and to have 
that corps under the command of the Secretary of 
the Treasury for the purpose of subverting, step 
by step, the principles of the constitution, which 
he has so often declared to be a thing pf nothing, 
which must be changed. 

Such views might have justified something more 
than mere expressions of dissent, beyond which, 
nevertheless, I never went. Has abstinence from 
the department committed to me been equally 



i64 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

observed by him? To say nothing of other inter- 
ferences equally known, in the case of the two 
nations with which we have the most intimate 
connexions, France and England, my system was 
to give some satisfactory distinctions to the former, 
of little cost to us, in return for the solid advan- 
tages yielded us by them ; and to have met the 
English with some restrictions, which might induce 
them to abate their severities against our com- 
merce. I have always supposed this coincided 
with your sentiments ; yet the Secretary of the 
Treasury, by his cabals with members of the legis- 
lature, and by high-toned declamation on other 
occasions, has forced down his own system, which 
was exactly the reverse. He undertook, of his own 
authority, the conferences with the ministers of 
these two nations, and was on every consultation, 
provided with some report of a conversation with 
the one or the other of them, adapted to his views. 
These views, thus made to prevail, their execu- 
tion of course fell to me ; and I can safely appeal 
to you, who have seen all my letters and proceed- 
ings, whether I have not carried them into exe- 
cution as sincerely as if they had been my own, 
though I ever considered them as inconsistent 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 165 

with the honour and interest of our country. 
That they have been inconsistent with our interest 
is but too fatally proved by the stab to our navi- 
gation given by the French. So that if the ques- 
tion be, By whose fault is it that Colonel Hamilton 
and myself have not drawn together? the answer 
will depend on that to two other questions. 
Whose principles of administration best justify, 
by their purity, conscientious adherence? And 
which of us has, notwithstanding, stepped farthest 
into the control of the department of the other? 
To the justification of opinions, expressed in the 
way of conversation, against the views of Colonel 
Hamilton, I beg leave to add some notice of his 
late charges against me in Fennds Gazette; for 
neither the style, matter, nor venom of the pieces 
alluded to can leave a doubt of their author. 
Spelling my name and character at full length to 
the public, while he conceals his own under the 
signature of " An American," he charges me first, 
with having written letters from Europe to my 
friends to oppose the present constitution while 
depending; secondly with a desire of not paying 
the public debt ; thirdly with setting up a paper to 
decry and slander the government. 



i66 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

The first charge is most false. No man in the 
United States, I suppose, approved of every title 
in the constitution ; no one, I believe, approved 
more of it than I did ; and more of it was certainly 
disapproved by my accuser than by me, and of its 
parts most vitally republican. Of this the few 
letters I wrote on the subject (not half a dozen, I 
believe) will be a proof; and for my own satisfac- 
tion and justification, I must tax you with the 
reading of them when I return to where they are. 
You will there see, that my objection to the 
constitution was, that it wanted a bill of rights, 
securing freedom of religion, freedom of the press, 
freedom from standing armies, trial by jury, and a 
constant habeas corptis act. Colonel Hamilton's 
was that he wanted a King and a House of Lords.^ 
The sense of America has approved my objection, 
and added the bill of rights, not the King and 
Lords. I also thought a longer term of service, 
insusceptible of renewal, would have made a Presi- 
dent more independent. My country has thought 
otherwise, and I have acquiesced implicitly. He 

^ It is doubtful if Jefferson persuaded even himself of the truth of 
this nonsensical charge, of which there has never been a suggestion of 
proof. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 167 

wished the general government should have power 
to make laws binding the States in all cases what- 
soever. Our country has thought otherwise. Has 
he acquiesced ? Notwithstanding my wish for a 
bill of rights, my letters strongly urged the adop- 
tion of the constitution, by nine states at least, to 
secure the good it contained. I at first thought, 
that the best method of securing the bill of rights 
would be for four states to hold off till such a bill 
should be agreed to. But the moment I saw Mr. 
Hancock's proposition to pass the constitution as 
it stood, and give perpetual instructions to the 
representatives of every State to insist upon a bill 
of rights, I acknowledged the superiority of his 
plan, and advocated universal adoption. 

The second charge is equally untrue. My whole 
correspondence while in France, and in every word, 
letter, and act on the subject since my return, prove, 
that no man is more ardently intent to see the 
public debt soon and sacredly paid off than I am. 
This exactly marks the difference between Colonel 
Hamilton's views and mine, that I would wish the 
debt paid to-morrow ; he wishes it never to be paid, 
but always to be a thing wherewith to corrupt and 
manage the legislature. 



1 68 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Thirdly, I have never inquired what number of 
sons, relations, and friends of senators, representa- 
tives, printers, or other useful partisans Colonel 
Hamilton has provided for among the hundred 
clerks of his department, the thousand excisemen, 
custom-house officers, loan-of-officers, &c., &c., &c., 
appointed by him, or at his nod, and spread over 
the Union ; nor could ever have imagined, that the 
man, who has the shuffling of millions backwards 
and forwards from paper into money, and money 
into paper, from Europe to America, and America 
to Europe, the dealing out of Treasury secrets 
among his friends in what time and measure 
he pleases, and who never slips an occasion of 
making friends with his means ; that such a one, I 
say, would have brought forward a charge against 
me for having appointed the poet Freneau trans- 
lating clerk to my office with a salary of two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars a year. 

The fact stands thus. While the government 
was at New- York, I was applied to on behalf of 
Freneau to know if there was any place within my 
department to which he could have been appointed. 
I answered, there were but four clerkships, all of 
which I found full, and continued without any 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 169 

change. When we removed to Philadelphia, Mr. 
Pintard, the translating clerk, did not choose to 
remove with us. His office then became vacant. 
I was again applied to there for Freneau, and had 
no hesitation to promise the clerkship for him. I 
cannot recollect whether it was the same time, or 
afterwards, that I was told he had a thought of 
setting up a newspaper there ; but, whether then 
or afterwards, I considered it a circumstance of 
some value, as it might enable me to do what I had 
long wished to have done, that is, to have the 
material parts of the Leyden Gazette brought under 
your eye and that of the public, in order to possess 
yourself and them of a juster view of the affairs of 
Europe, than could be obtained from any other 
public source. This I had ineffectually attempted 
through the press of Mr. Fenno while in New- York, 
selecting and translating passages myself at first, 
then having it done by Mr. Pintard and the trans- 
lating clerk. But they found their way too slowly 
into Mr. Fenno's papers. Mr. Bache essayed it 
for me in Philadelphia ; but his, being a daily paper, 
did not circulate sufficiently in the other States. 
He even tried, at my request, the plan of a weekly 
paper of recapitulation from his daily paper, in 



I70 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

hopes that it might go into the other States ; but in ' 
this too we failed. 

Freneau, as translating clerk and the printer of a ■ 
periodical paper likely to circulate through the \ 
States (uniting in one person the parts of Pintard | 
and Fenno), revived my hopes that the thing could ; 
at length be effected. On the establishment of 
his paper, therefore, I furnished him with the \ 
Leyden Gazette with an expression of my wish that 
he would always translate and publish the ; 
material intelligence they contained ; and have i 
continued to furnish them from time to time, as ; 
regularly as I received them. But as to any other 
direction or indication of my wish how his press 
should be conducted, what sort of intelligence 
he should give, what essays encourage, I can | 
protest in the presence of Heaven, that I never 
did, by myself or any other, directly or indi- j 
rectly, write, dictate, or procure, any one sentence \ 
or sentiment to be inserted in his or any other \ 
gazette, to which my name was not affixed, or that i 
of my office. I surely need not except here a thing I 
so foreign to the present subject as a little para- , 
graph about our Algerine captives, which I put I 
once into Fenno's paper. i 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 171 

Freneau's proposition to publish a paper having 
been about the time that the writings of Publicola 
and the Discourses on Davila had a good deal 
excited the public attention, I took it for granted, 
from Freneau's character, which had been marked 
as that of a good whig, that he would give free 
place to pieces written against the aristocratical and 
monarchical principles these papers had inculcated. 
This having been in my mind, it is likely enough I 
may have expressed it in conversation with others, 
though I do not recollect that I did. To Freneau 
I think I could not, because I had still seen him but 
once, and that was at a public table, at breakfast at 
Mrs. Ellsworth's, as I passed through New York the 
last year ; and I can safely declare, that my expecta- 
tions looked only to the chastisement of the aristo- 
cratical and monarchical writings, and not to any 
criticisms on the proceedings of the government. 

Colonel Hamilton can see no motive for any ap- 
pointment, but that of making a convenient partisan. 
But you, Sir, who have received from me recom- 
mendations of a Rittenhouse, Barlow, Paine, will 
believe, that talents and science are sufificient mo- 
tives with me in appointments to which they are 
fitted ; and that Freneau, as a man of genius, might 



172 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

find a preference in my eye to be a translating clerk, 
and make good title moreover to the little aids I 
could give him as the editor of a gazette, by procur- 
ing subscriptions to his paper as I did, some time 
before it appeared, and as I have with pleasure done 
for the labours of other men of genius. I hold it 
to be one of the distinguishing excellencies of an 
elective over hereditary successions, that the talents, 
which nature has provided in sufficient proportions, 
should be selected by the society for the govern- 
ment of their affairs, rather than that this should 
be transmitted through the loins of knaves and 
fools, passing from the debauchees of the table to 
those of the bed. 

Colonel Hamilton, alias '•'Plain Factsl' says that 
Freneau's salary began before he resided in Phila- 
delphia. I do not know what quibble he may have 
in reserve on the word '' residence^ He may mean | 
to include under that idea the removal of his family; ' 
for I believe he removed himself, before his family ■ 
did, to Philadelphia. But no act of mine gave com- \ 
mencement to his salary before he so far took up his ■ 
abode in Philadelphia, as to be sufficiently in readi- \ 
ness for the duties of the office. As to the merits 
or demerits of his paper, they certainly concern i 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 173 

me not. He and Fenno are rivals for the public 
favour; the one courts them by flattery, the other by 
censure; and I believe it will be admitted that the 
one has been as servile as the other severe. But 
is not the dignity and even decency of government 
committed, when one of its principal ministers 
enlists himself as an anonymous writer or para- 
graphist for either the one or the other of them.? 
No government ought to be without censors; and, 
where the press is free, no one ever will. If virtu- 
ous, it need not fear the fair operation of attack and 
defence. Nature has given to man no other means 
of sifting out the truth, either in religion, law, or 
politics. I think it as honourable to the govern- 
ment neither to know or notice its sycophants or 
censors, as it would be undignified and criminal 
to pamper the former and persecute the latter. So 
much for the past ; a word now of the future. 

When I came into this office, it was with a reso- 
lution to retire from it as soon as I could with 
decency. It pretty nearly appeared to me, that 
the proper moment would be the first of those 
epochs at which the constitution seems to have 
contemplated a periodical change or renewal of 
the public servants. In this I was confirmed by 



174 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

your resolution respecting the same period, from 
which, however, I am happy in hoping you have 
departed. I look to that period with the longing 
of a wave-worn mariner, who has at length the 
land in view, and shall count the days and hours 
which still lie between me and it. In the mean- 
time my main object will be to wind up the business 
of my office, avoiding as much as possible all new 
enterprises. With the affairs of the legislature, as I 
never did intermeddle, so I certainly shall not now 
begin. I am more desirous to predispose everything 
for the repose, to which I am withdrawing, than 
expose it to be disturbed by newspaper contests. 

If these, however, cannot be avoided altogether, 
yet a regard for your quiet will be a sufficient 
motive for deferring till I become merely a pri- 
vate citizen, when the propriety or impropriety of 
what I may say or do may fall on myself alone. 
I may then, too, avoid the charge of misapply- 
ing that time, which, now belonging to those 
who employ me, should be wholly devoted to 
their service. If my own justification or the 
interests of the republic shall require it, I reserve 
to myself the right of then appealing to my 
country, subscribing my name to whatever I 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 175 

write/ and using with freedom and truth the facts 
and names necessary to place the cause in its just 
form before that tribunah To a thorough disregard 
of the honours and emoluments of office, I join as 
great a value for the esteem of my countrymen; 
and conscious of having merited it by an integ- 
rity, which cannot be reproached, and by an en- 
thusiastic devotion to their rights and liberty, I 
will not suffer my retirement to be clouded by 
the slanders of a man, whose history, from the 
moment at which history can stoop to notice him, 
is a tissue of machinations against the liberty of 
the country, which has not only received and given 
him bread, but heaped its honours on his head. 

Still, however, I repeat the hope, that it will not 
be necessary to make such an appeal. Though 
little known to the people of America, I believe, 
that, as far as I am known, it is not as an enemy 
to the republic, nor an intriguer against it, nor a 

^This virtuous fling is pointless, for the anonymous political eflFu- 
sion was the custom of the day. Hamilton's style was unmistak- 
able, and he never disguised it, nor denied the authorship of anything 
he wrote. On the contrary, he knew the additional weight such 
knov/ledge must give to anything he published; he merely followed 
the fashion of the day in using a fancy signature, usually classical. 
The Federalist papers were signed Publius, and even Jefferson would 
hardly have accused him of being ashamed of them! — Ed. 



176 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

waster of its revenue, nor prostitutor of it to the 
purposes of corruption, as the Americmt repre- 
sents me; and I confide, that yourself are satis- 
fied, that, as to dissensions in the newspapers, not 
a syllable of them has ever proceeded from me; 
and that no cabals or intrigues of mine have pro- 
duced those in the legislature; and I hope I may 
promise, both to you and myself, that none will re- 
ceive aliment from me during the short space I 
have to remain in oiifice, which will find ample em- 
ployment in closing the business of the department. 
... In the mean time, and ever, with great and 
sincere affection and respect, dear Sir, your most 
obedient and humble servant, 

Thomas Jefferson.^ 



From JAMES HAMILTON 

St. Vincent, June 12th, 1793. 

Dear Alexander, — I wrote you a letter, inclosed 
in one to Mr. Donald, of Virginia, since which I have 
had no further accounts from you. My bad state of 

^ This is instructive reading in the light of the proven facts of his- 
tory, and if Jefferson had chosen to rear a monument to his hypocrisy, 
he could hardly have done better. — Ed. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 177 

health has prevented my going to sea at this time 
— being afflicted with a compHcation of disorders. 

The war which has lately broken out between 
France and England makes it very dangerous 
going to sea at this time. However, we daily 
expect news of a peace, and when that takes place, 
provided it is not too late in the season, I will 
embark in the first vessel that sails for Philadelphia. 

I have now settled all my business in this part of 
the world, with the assistance of my good friend, 
Mr. Donald, who has been of evei*y service to me 
that lay in his power, in contributing to make my 
life easy at this advanced period of life. The 
bearer of this. Captain Sheriff, of the brig Dispatch, 
sails direct for Philadelphia, and has promised to 
deliver you this letter with his own hands ; and as 
he returns to this island from Philadelphia, I beg 
you will drop me a few lines, letting me know how 
you and your family keep your health, as I am 
uneasy at not having heard from you for some time 
past. I beg my respectful compliments to Mrs. 
Hamilton and your children, and wishing you health 
and happiness, I remain, with esteem, dear Alexander, 
Your very affectionate father, 

James Hamilton. 



178 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

To 

August, 1793. 

Dear Sir, — Poor Duer has now had a long and 
severe confinement, such as would be adequate 
punishment for no trifling crime. I am well aware 
of all the blame to which he is liable, and do not 
mean to be his apologist, though I believe he has 
been as much the dupe of his own imagination, as 
others have been the victims of his projects. But 
what then ? He is a man — he is a man with 
whom we have both been in habits of friendly 
intimacy. He is a man, who, with a great deal of 
good zeal, has in critical times rendered valuable 
services to the country. He is a husband, who has 
a worthy and most amiable wife, perishing with 
chagrin at his situation; — your relation by blood, 
mine by marriage — he is a father, who has a num- 
ber of fine children, destitute of the means of educa- 
tion and support, every way in need of his future 
exertions. 

These are titles to sympathy, which I shall be 
mistaken if you do not feel. You are his creditor. 
Your example may influence others. He wants 
permission, through a letter of license, to breathe the 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 179 

air iox five years. Your signature to the enclosed 
draft of one will give me much pleasure. 

Yours, 

A. H. 

To MRS. NATHANAEL GREENE 

Philadelphia, September 3rd, 1793. 

It is not an uncommon thing for you women to 
bring us poor men into scrapes. It seems you 
have brought me into one. You will wonder how. 
Hear the tale. 

Shortly after I came into office, Wadsworth 
informed me that Baron Glaubeck was indebted to 
General Greene (to whom he had behaved in a very 
exceptionable manner), and that it was intended to 
endeavour to purchase of Glaubeck some pay which 
had just been granted to him by Congress, upon 
the plan of advancing to him a certain sum of 
money to satisfy his immediate necessities, and 
the residue that was due to him to be applied 
toward the indemnification of the General's estate, 
for what Glaubeck owed to it. I afterwards under- 
stood that the execution of this plan was com- 
mitted to Flint or Duer, to one or both of them 



i8o A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

— and that a purchase of the claim was in fact 
made — not indeed of Glaubeck, but of some 
person to whom he had parted with it for some 
trifling consideration — the object being through- 
out to benefit you by way of indemnification as 
above mentioned. 

It likewise would appear from the Treasury 
records, that you have in fact received the whole 
benefit of the purchase. The conversations we had 
together when you were last in Philadelphia, assure 
me at least that the certificate for four-fifths of his 
claim accrued immediately to your use. 

Francis, late a clerk in my department (partly 
from resentment at a disappointment he has met 
with at the Treasury, and partly, I believe, from its 
having been made worth his while by some political 
enemies of mine), endeavours to have it believed 
that this transaction was a speculation in which I 
was engaged, and in proof of it — a draft of a power 
of attorney, corrected by some interlineations in my 
handwriting, as he asserts. 

I do not recollect this part of the business, though 
I think it is very possible that such a correction, in 
such a draft, may have been made by me. 

For Duer and Flint, it seems, employed Francis 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



I8l 



to make the purchase ; and it is not unlikely that 
a draft of the power for the purpose may have 
been brought to me, to know from me whether 
it would answer the purpose of the Treasury as 
a competent instrument ; and that I (believing the 
design to be such as I have represented, one not 
only wholly unexceptional but laudable one in which 
my friendship for you would naturally take part) 
may have taken up my pen and made such cor- 
rections as the draft might appear to stand in 
need of. 

I give you this detail to show you how I may 
have been implicated. 

What I wish of you is, that you will have the 
goodness to state in writing what you know of 
the affair; ascertaining that the purchase was for 
your benefit, and the cause of it; and that you 
will take the trouble to make affidavit to the state- 
ment, and forward to me. 

As it is an affair of delicacy, I will thank you 
to request some gentleman of the law to give form 
and precision to your narrative. 

You perceive that it is not in one way only that 
I am the object of unprincipled persecution ; but 
I console myself with the lines of the poet — 



i82 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

He must needs be of optics keen, 
Who sees what is not to be seen. 

And with this belief, that in spite of calumny, 

the friends I love and esteem will continue to love 

and esteem me, 

Yours sincerely, 

A. H. 



IV 

THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE 



From M'HENRY 

New Baltimore, February 17, 1795. 

My dear Hamilton, — The tempest weathered 
and landed on the same shore, I may now con- 
gratulate you on having established a system of 
credit, and having conducted the affairs of our 
country upon principles and reasoning which 
ought to insure its immortality, as it undoubtedly 
will your fame. Few public men have been so 
eminently fortunate as voluntarily to leave so 
high a station with so unsullied a character, and 
so well assured a reputation ; and still fewer have 
so well deserved the gratitude of their country, 
and the eulogiums of history. Let this console 
you for past toils and pains, and reconcile you 
to humbler pleasures and a private life. What 
remains for you, having insured fame, but to 
insure felicity ? Seek for it in the moderate pursuit 
of your profession, or, if public life still flatters, 
in that ofHce most congenial to it ; and which will 

18s 



1 86 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

not withdraw you from those literary objects that 
require no violent waste of spirits, and those little 
plans that involve gentle exercise, and which you 
can drop or indulge in without injury to your family. 
I shall expect to hear from you as soon as you 
get fairly settled. Not knowing whether I ought 
to address to you at Albany or New York, I have 
sent this to Mr. Murray, who will forward it, and 
who, I suppose, knows. Adieu. 
Sincerely and affectionately, 

James M'Henry. 



To THEODORE SEDGWICK 

Bristol, February i8th, 1795. j 

My dear Sedgwick, — Every moment's reflection ■ 

increases my chagrin and disgust at the failure 1 

of the propositions concerning the unsubscribed 1 

debt. I am tortured by the idea that the coun- ' 

try should be so completely and unnecessarily ' 
dishonoured. A day of reckoning must come. 

I pray you let the yeas and nays separate the | 

wheat from the chaff. I may otherwise have to \ 

feel the distress of wounding a friend by a shaft j 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 187 

levelled at an enemy. The case is an extreme 
one. Managements are every way improper. 
Yours affectionately, 

A. Hamilton. 



To RUFUS KING 

Kingston, February 21st, 1795. 

My dear King, — The unnecessary, and capri- 
cious, and abominable assassination of the national 
honour, by the rejection of the propositions re- 
specting the unsubscribed debt, in the House 
of Representatives, haunts me every step I take, 
and afHicts me more than I can express. To see 
the character of the country and the government 
so sported with — exposed to so indelible a blot 
— puts my heart to the torture. Am I, then, 
more of an American than those who drew their 
first breath on American ground? Or what is it 
that thus torments me, at a circumstance so calmly 
viewed by almost everybody else? Am I a fool 
— a romantic Quixote — or is there a constitu- 
tional defect in the American mind? Were it 
not for yourself and a few others, I could adopt 
the reveries of De Paux as substantial truths, 



1 88 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

and could say with him that there is something in 
our climate which belittles every animal, human 
or brute. 

I conjure you, my friend, make a vigorous stand 
for the honour of your country ! Rouse all the 
energies of your mind, and measure swords in the 
Senate with the great slayer of public faith — 
the hackneyed veteran in the violation of public 
engagements. Prevent him, if possible, from tri- 
umphing a second time over the prostrate credit 
and injured interests of his country. Unmask his 
false and horrid hypothesis. Display the immense 
difference between an able statesman and the man 
of subtleties. Root out the distempered and noi- 
some weed which is attempted to be planted in our 
political garden, to choke and wither, in its infancy, 
the fair plant of public credit. 

I disclose to you, without reserve, the state of 
my mind. It is discontented and gloomy in the 
extreme. I consider the cause of good government 
as having been put to an issue, and the verdict 
rendered against it. 

Introduce, I pray you, into the Senate, when the 
bill comes up, the clause which has been rejected, 
freed from embarrassment by the bills of credit, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 189 

bearing interest on the nominal value. Press its 
adoption in this, the most unexceptionable shape, 
and let the yeas and nays witness the result. 

Among the other reasons for this is my wish that 
the true friends of public credit may be distin- 
guished from its enemies. The question is too 
great a one not to undergo a thorough examination 
before the community. It would pain me not to be 
able to distinguish. 

Adieu ! God bless you. 

P.S. Do me the favour to revise carefully the 
course of the bill respecting the unsubscribed debt, 
and let me know the particulars. I wish to be able 
to judge more particularly of the underplot I suspect. 

From EDWARD STEVENS 

Philadelphia, May, 1796. 

My dear Friend, — Almost ever since your 
departure I have been confined to my chamber, 
by a severe and obstinate catarrh. Though much 
better, at present my health is so much deranged 
that I dread encountering the warmth of the 
summer months in this city. I have, therefore, 
determined to take a voyage to sea, and I shall 



I90 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

visit St. Croix before my return. Mrs. Stevens 
has concluded to accompany me with our little 
ones. Our absence will be but short. If no un- 
expected event takes place, we shall certainly 
return by the month of September. I could not, 
however, leave America, without assuring you of 
our best wishes for the health and prosperity of 
yourself and family. May every blessing attend 
you. Mrs. S. unites with me in affectionate re- 
membrance to Mrs. Hamilton. 

I remain, with unfeigned attachment, 
My dear Sir, 

Your sincere friend, 

Edward Stevens. 

From MR. GREENLEAF 

New- York, July 27th, 1796. 

Dear Sir, — The indispensable necessity of an 
immediate though short respite from business, 
united with motives of interest, and an unbounded 
attachment to reputation, induce me to make a 
proposition to you of a pretty extraordinary nature, 
but which after due reflection I flatter myself will 
be deemed not unworthy of your attention. My 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 191 

engagements of every possible nature do not exceed 
twelve hundred thousand dollars, and my real and 
personal estate may with ease be liquidated and 
made to produce five millions of dollars ; say, 
rather, a million of dollars annually for five con- 
secutive years ; but in consequence of some impor- 
tant and unexpected delinquencies on the part of 
persons whose engagements have become due to 
me, and must be paid from securities given, my 
own engagements become due more rapidly than 
my means (without having recourse to improper 
operations) can be made to answer. If you will 
now be induced to aid me with your name, respon- 
sibility, and talents, in the liquidation of my con- 
cerns and payment of my engagements, in such 
wise that no undue sacrifice of property shall 
result, and my name be borne through with the 
credit and propriety it deserves, the one-third part 
of the net residue of my whole estate, both real 
and personal, after payment of my engagements, 
shall become yours, provided you will consent that 
the mass shall remain undivided for ten years, and 
constitute the capital of a banking-house, to be 
established either in this city or at Philadelphia, 
in our joint names and under your sole guidance, 



192 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

and the profits divided between us in equal por- 
tions. 

I have reason to believe that, with the aid of 
your name and our joint responsibility, accom- 
panied with the names of three other persons as 
trustees for deposited property, it will, by a reputa- 
ble mode of financing I shall communicate, be 
practicable for me to obtain the use of a million of 
dollars at legal interest for the average term of five 
years, and with this sum I should calculate on being 
able to pay off all my engagements with due credit 
and advantage, as considerable amounts are due at 
distant periods, and may be purchased in at a con- 
siderable discount. 

If these outlines so far meet your approbation as 
to induce you to wish my entering into a particular 
detail, it shall be done at such time as will best suit 
your leisure and convenience. 

To GREENLEAF 

New- York, July 30th, 1796. 

Dear Sir, — I have carefully reflected upon the 
subject of the 27th instant. 

Though the data which it presents authorize 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 193 

an expectation of large pecuniary advantage, and 
though I discern nothing in the affair which an 
individual differently circumstanced might not with 
propriety enter into ; yet, in my peculiar situation, 
viewed in all its public as well as personal relations, 
I think myself bound to decline the overture. 



To OLIVER WOLCOTT 

August 3rd, 1796. 

Dear Sir, — ■ I have received your letter of the 
first. I deplore the picture it gives, and henceforth 
wish to forget there is a Bank or a Treasury in the 
United States, though I shall not forget my regard 
to individuals. 

I do not see one argument in any possible shape 
of the thing, for the sale of bank stock or against 
that of the other stock, which does not apply vice 
versa, and I shall consider it one of the most infatu- 
ated steps that ever was adopted. 

God bless you, 

A. Hamilton. 



194 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



To THEODORE SEDGWICK 

February 26th, 1797. 

My dear Sir, — The present inimitable course of 
our public affairs proves me to be a very bad politi- 
cian, so that I am afraid to suggest any affair that 
may occur to me. Yet I will give over my timidity 
and communicate for your consideration a reverie 
which has struck me. 

It is a fact that the resentment of the French 
government is very much levelled at the actual 
President. A change of the person (however unde- 
sirable in other respects) may give a change to the 
passion, and may also furnish a bridge to retreat 
over. This is a great advantage to a new Presi- 
dent, and the most ought to be made of it. For it 
is much to our interest to preserve peace, if we 
can with honour, and if we cannot, it will be very 
important to prove that no endeavour to do it has 
been omitted. 

Were I Mr. Adams, then, I believe I should 
begin my Presidency by naming an extraordinary 
commission to the French Republic, and I think 
it would consist of three persons: Mr. Madison, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



^95 



Mr. PInckney, and Mr. Cabot. I should pursue this 
course for several reasons ; because I would have a 
man as influential with the French as Mr. Madi- 
son ; yet I would not trust him alone, lest his Galli- 
cism should work amiss, — because I would not 
wound Mr. Pinckney, so recently sent in the same 
spirit; thirdly, I think Cabot would mix very useful 
ingredients in the cup. 

The commission should be changed to make 
explanations — to remonstrate, to ask indemnifica- 
tion, and they should be empowered to make a new 
treaty of commerce not inconsistent with our other 
treaties, and perhaps to abrogate or remodify the 
treaty of alliance. 

That treaty can only be inconvenient to us in 
the future. The guarantee of our sovereignty and 
independence henceforth is nominal. The guar- 
antee of the West India Islands of France, as we 
advance in strength, will be more and more real. 
In future, and in a truly defensive war, I think we 
shall be bound to comply efficaciously with our 
guarantee. Nor have I been able to see that it 
means less than obligation to take part in such a 
war with our whole force. I have no ideas of 
treaties which are not executed. 



196 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Hence, I want to get rid of that treaty by mutual 
consent, or to liquidate its meaning to a treaty of 
definite succor — in a clearly defensive war; so 
many men, so many ships, so much money, and to 
be furnished by one ally to the other. This of 
course must be so managed as to exclude unequivo- 
cally the present war in all its mutations. 

Such objects are important enough for three. In 
executive matters, I am as little fond as most people 
of plurality; but I think it pedantry to admit no ex- 
ceptions to any general rule, and I believe, under 
the present circumstances of the case, a commission 
would be advisable. I give my dream of it as it has 
occurred : you will do with it what you please. 

Yours, 



A. H. 



To HAMILTON! 



Albany, State of New- York, May the 2d, 1797. 

My dear Sir, — Some days since I received with 
great pleasure your letter of the loth of March. 
The mark it affords of your kind attention, and the 

^ In " The Works of Alexander Hamilton " this letter has a blank 
in place of the first name, as here given. But this correspondent can 
be none other than Alexander Hamilton, third son of Alexander Hamil- 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 197 

particular account it gives me of so many relations 
in Scotland, are extremely gratifying to me. You 
no doubt have understood that my father's affairs 
at a very early day went to wreck ; so as to have 
rendered his situation during the greatest part 
of his life ineligible. This state of things occa- 
sioned a separation between him and me, when I 
was very young, and threw me upon the bounty 
of my mother's relatives, some of whom were then 

ton of Grange and Elizabeth, his wife, parents of James Hamilton. 
The two oldest sons, John and Robert, dying without issue, this Alex- 
ander succeeded to the estates. He had a number of children, among 
them a son Alexander, who also corresponded with Hamilton. Robert 
was doubtless another son, but dying undistinguished in the United 
States, was lost sight of by the genealogist. 

In a letter to Robert Troup, dated July 25, 1795, in which Hamilton 
tells this close friend that he has made him executor of his will, and 
enumerates his obligations, &c., he makes the following remarks, re- 
garding his father : — 

"I hesitated whether I would not also secure a preference to the 
drafts of my father, but these, as far as I am concerned, being a volun- 
tary engagement, I doubted the justice of the measure, and I have done 
nothing. I regret it lest they should return upon him and increase his 
distress. Though, as I am informed, a man of respectable connections 
in Scotland, he became, as a merchant, bankrupt at an early day in the 
West Indies and is now in indigence. I have pressed him to come to 
me, but his great age and infirmity have deterred him from the change 
of climate." It was probably in the letter to which the one of May 2, 
1797, was the answer, that Hamilton learned the first definite news of 
his Scotch relatives. — Ed. 



198 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

wealthy, though by vicissitudes to which human 
affairs are so liable, they have been since much 
reduced and broken up. Myself at about sixteen 
came to this country. Having always had a strong 
propensity to literary pursuits, by a course of steady 
and laborious exertion, I was able, by the age of 
nineteen, to qualify myself for the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts in the College of New-York, and 
to lay the foundation for preparatory study for the 
future profession of the law. 

The American Revolution supervened. My prin- 
ciples led me to take part in it; at nineteen I entered 
into the American army as Captain of Artillery. 
Shortly after I became, by invitation, aid-de-camp 
to General Washington, in which station I served 
till the commencement of that campaign which 
ended with the siege of York in Virginia, and 
the capture of Cornwallis's army. The campaign 
I made at the head of a corps of light infantry, 
with which I was present at the siege of York, 
and engaged in some interesting operations. 

At the period of the peace of Great Britain, 
I found myself a member of Congress by appoint- 
ment of the Legislature of this State. 

After the peace, I settled in the city of New- 



I 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 199 

York, ill the practice of the law ; and was in a very 
lucrative course of practice, when the arrangement 
of our public affairs, by the feebleness of the gen- 
eral confederation, drew me again reluctantly into 
public life. I became a member of the Convention 
which framed the present Constitution of the 
United States ; and having taken part in this meas- 
ure, I conceived myself to be under an obligation 
to lend my aid towards putting the machine in 
some regular motion. Hence I did not hesitate to 
accept the offer of President Washington to under- 
take the office of Secretary of the Treasury. 

In that office I met with many intrinsic diffi- 
culties, and many artificial ones proceeding from 
passions, not very worthy, common to human 
nature, and which act with peculiar force in repub- 
lics. The object, however, was effected of estab- 
lishing public credit, and introducing order in the 
finances. 

Public office in this country has few attractions. 
The pecuniary emolument is so inconsiderable, as 
to amount to a sacrifice to any man who can em- 
ploy his time to advantage in any liberal profession. 
The opportunity of doing good, from the jealousy 
of power and the spirit of faction, is too small in 



200 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

any station, to warrant a long continuance of pri- 
vate sacrifices. The enterprises of party had so 
far succeeded, as materially to weaken the necessary 
influence and energy of the Executive authority, 
and so far diminish the power of doing good in 
that department, as greatly to take away the 
motives which a virtuous man might have for 
making sacrifices. The prospect was even bad 
for gratifying in future the love of fame, if that 
passion was to be the spring of action. 

The union of these motives, with the reflections 
of prudence in relation to a growing family, deter- 
mined me as soon as my plans had attained a 
certain maturity, to withdraw from office. This 
I did by a resignation about two years since, when 
I resumed the profession of the law in the city of 
New- York under every advantage I could desire. 

It is a pleasant reflection to me, that since the 
commencement of my connection with General 
Washington to the present time, I have possessed 
a flattering share of his confidence and friendship. 

Having given you a brief sketch of my political 
career, I proceed to some further family details. 

In the year 1780 I married the second daughter 
of General Schuyler, a gentleman of one of the 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 201 

best families of this country, of large fortune, and 
no less personal and political consequence. It is 
impossible to be happier than I am in a wife ; and 
I have five children, four sons and a daughter, 
the eldest a son somewhat past fifteen, who all 
promise me as well as their years permit, and yield 
me much satisfaction. Though I have been too 
much in public life to be wealthy, my situation is 
extremely comfortable, and leaves me nothing to 
wish but a continuance of health. With this 
blessing, the profits of my profession and other 
prospects authorize an expectation of such addi- 
tion to resources as will render the eve of life 
easy and agreeable, so far as may depend on this 
consideration. 

It is now several months since I have heard 
from my father, who continued at the island of 
St. Vincent. My anxiety at this silence would 
be greater than it is, were it not for the consider- 
able interruption and precariousness of intercourse 
which is produced by the war. 

I have strongly pressed the old gentleman to 
come and reside with me, which would afford 
him every enjoyment of which his advanced age 
is capable; but he has declined it on the ground 



202 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

that the advice of his physicians leads him to 
fear that the change of cHmate would be fatal to 
him. The next thing for me is, in proportion 
to my means, to endeavour to increase his com- 
forts where he is. 

It will give me the greatest pleasure to receive 
your son Robert at my house in New- York, and 
still more to be of use to him ; to which end, my 
recommendation and interest will not be wanting, 
and I hope not unavailing. It is my intention to 
embrace the opening which your letter affords me 
to extend my intercourse with my relations in your 
country, which will be a new source of satisfaction 
to me. 



From WASHINGTON 



Mount Vernon, August 21st, 1797. ' 

My dear Sir, — Not for any intrinsic value the 1 

thing possesses, but as a token of my sincere re- j 

1 This letter was written as soon as the scandal of the Reynolds I 
pamphlet reached Mount Vernon. Washington knew that every line 
he wrote was more than likely eventually to find its way into print : he 

was far too canny to condole frankly with his favourite upon the mis- | 

fortune of being found out. Nevertheless his sympathy and affection ; 

prompted consolement, and he administered it in his own fashion. — Ed. j 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 203 

gard and friendship for you, and as a remembrance 
of me, I pray you to accept a wine cooler for four 
bottles, which Colonel Biddle is directed to for- 
ward from Philadelphia, (where with other articles 
it was left,) together with this letter to your 
address. It is one of four which I imported in 
the early part of my late administration of the 
government ; two only of which were ever used. 
I pray you to present my best wishes, in which 
Mrs. Washington joins me, to Mrs. Hamilton and 
the family; and that you would be persuaded, 
that with every sentiment of the highest regard, 
I remain your sincere friend. 

And affectionate humble servant, 
Geo. Washington. 



I To WASHINGTON 

: New-York, August 28th, 1797. 

' My dear Sir, — The receipt two days since of 
the 2 1 St inst. gave me sincere pleasure. The 

I token of regard which it announces, is very 

I precious to me, and will always be remembered 

] as it ought to be. 



204 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Mrs. Hamilton has lately added another boy to 
our stock; she and the child are both well. She 
desires to be affectionately remembered to Mrs. 
Washington and yourself. 

We have nothing new here more than our 
papers contain ; but we are anxiously looking 
forward to a further development of the negotia- 
tions in Europe, with an ardent desire for general 
accommodation. It is at the same time agreeable 
to observe, that the public mind is adopting, more 
and more, sentiments truly American, and free 
from foreign tincture. 

I beg my best respects to Mrs. Washington, 
and that you will always be assured of the most 
respectful and affectionate attachments, &c. 

To THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 

New-York, August yth, 1798. 

Dear Sir, — Capt. Robert Hamilton, a first 
cousin of mine, is desirous of employment in this 
country, in the line of his profession. He is regu- 
larly bred to the sea, which he has followed since 
he was fourteen years old, and has had the best op- 
portunities of improvement — among others that of 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 205 

voyages to the East Indies. He has also com- 
manded a ship and has acted as supercargo. I 
venture to recommend him with confidence as well 
qualified, and every way worthy, adding to skill in 
his profession, the sentiments of a gentleman, good 
morals, intelligence, and prudence. I interest my- 
self very much in his success, and shall esteem it 
as a personal favour to myself whatever may be 
done for his interest. 



From PICKERING ^ 

August 22, 1798. 
Dear Sir, — In writing freely as I have done 
yesterday and to-day in the enclosed letter to you, 
disclosing what is contemplated respecting your 
military station,^ far from being apprehensive of 
justly incurring blame, I consider myself as perform- 
ing a hazardous duty ; but I am not conscious that 
the risk of incurring the displeasure of any man 
ever deterred me from doing what I conceived to be 
my duty. My anxiety to see you fixed second in 
command has arisen from the opinion which for 

^ Secretary of State. 

2 Second in command in the threatened war with France. 



2o6 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

twenty years I have entertained of your superior 
genius and talents combined with integrity. The 
integrity of your competitors, I trust, is also unim- 
peachable. General Pinckney's character I believe 
to be eminently pure, and were their other qualifica- 
tions equal, my solicitude would cease. Nay, there 
would be an evident propriety in their preceding you. 
My proceeding has not proceeded from any claims 
you have on my friendship ; for though we were 
never, to my knowledge, for one moment at enmity, 
our acquaintance was never so intimate as in the 
proper strict sense of the word to make us friends. 
My respect, esteem, and attachment have been 
founded on the qualities of your head and heart, 
as above suggested ; and all the return I expected 
was, the regard due simply to an honest man. 
Viewing me as entitled to this character, you will 
not, nor would any one who knew as well as you my 
frank downright disposition, ascribe to flattery the 
sentiments I have expressed of you in our corre- 
spondence. It was impossible to reason the subject 
without expressing them. Thus much I have 
thought proper to add in justification, and as an 
apology for the enclosed, and for any similar senti- 
ments in former letters. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 207 

From PICKERING 
(private and confidential) 

Trenton, August 23rd, 1798. 
Dear Sir, — Mr. M'Henry^ has just handed to 
Mr. Wolcott- and me his letter to the President^ 
on the subject of calHng you and General Knox * 
into immediate service, together with General Knox's 
letter to him in answer to the one enclosing his 
commission. General Knox's letter claiming the 
first rank, I see has been transmitted to you ; and I 
was glad to see you, in your answer to the Secretary 
at War, tenacious of the station to which the 
Commander-in-Chief, the President and Senate, 
and the public voice have placed you. I did 
not know till now, that General Washington had 
so explicitly written you respecting your taking 
rank of General Knox, whom he loved, although I 
had formed the same conclusion from his silence 
concerning him in his letter to me, which I now 
enclose, and which Mr. Wolcott, only, of my col- 

^ Secretary of War. ^ Secretary of the Treasury. ^ John Adams. 

* Henry Knox, of the Revolution. One of Hamilton's biographers 
has confounded this character with Hugh Knox, but so far as one may 
judge by the evidence, they were not even related. 



2o8 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

leagues has seen. The original letter from General 
Washington to you, M'Henry now informs me, 
was by him shown to the President ; notwithstanding 
which you have seen where you would have been 
placed. M'Henry said also, that General Washing- 
ton made your appointment to be the sine qua non 
of his accepting the chief command. The weight 
of these facts seems to have escaped the President's 
recollection, or he would not desire that General 
Knox should take rank of you. It is plain that 
General Knox has conversed with him, referred to 
the rule of the former war to determine the relative 
rank of officers of the same grade, appointed on the 
same day, and the President has thence concluded 
that Knox is " legally " entitled to the precedency. 
But, as I yesterday informed you, the change pro- 
posed to gratify General Knox and the President, 
is by the latter put on General Washington's 
"opinion and consent," and such consent, surely, 
can never be given after the General's letter to you, 
in which, as M'Henry says, he explicitly told 
you, that he passed by Knox whom he loved, to give 
you the priority of rank. Upon the principle men- 
tioned by General Knox, Hand must clearly precede 
you, as well as Knox and Pinckney. Lee, I presume. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 209 

must follow you, as he was only a captain of horse, 
when you, as aid to the Commander-in-Chief, had 
the rank of lieutenant colonel. I see in your letter 
to M' Henry, you refer to the piiblic voice in your 
favour — and justly, as I yesterday mentioned. Yet 
the President imagines that '"Oa^five New England 
States " would be offended at your preceding Knox. 
He is most egregiously mistaken; it was among New 
England members of Congress that I heard you, 
and you only, mentioned as the Commander-in- 
Chief, until General Washington was nominated ; 
and I dare to say, that if among the New England 
delegates a vote were taken, nine in ten, if not the 
whole, would place you before Knox. 



To WASHINGTON 

New- York, September 30th, 1798. 

My dear Sir, — Your obliging favour of the 
24th instant has duly come to hand. I see in it 
a new proof of sentiments towards me which are 
truly gratifying. But permit me to add my request 
to the suggestions of your own prudence, that no 
personal considerations for me may induce more on 
your part than on mature reflection you may think 



2IO A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

due to public motives. It is extremely foreign to 
my wish to create to you the least embarrassment, 
especially in times like the present, when it is more 
than ever necessary that the interests of the whole 
should be paramountly consulted. 

To KINGi 

New York, October 2, 1798. 

My dear Sir, — Mr. R. delivered me your letter 
of the 31st of July. The opinion in that and other 
of your letters concerning a very important point, 
has been acted upon by me from the very moment 
that it became unequivocal that we must have a 
decisive rupture with France. In some things my 
efforts succeeded, in others they were disappointed : 
— in others I have had promises of conformity to 
lay the foundation of future proceeding; the per- 
formance and effect of which promises are not 
certainly known to me. 

The public mind in this country continues to 
progress in the right direction. That must influ- 
ence favourably the present Congress at the ensu- 
ing session. The next will be in all appearance 
intrinsically better. 

^ Rufus King, minister to England. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 211 

Of the executive I need say little ; you know its 
excellent dispositions, its general character, and the 
composition of its parts. You know also how 
widely different the business of government is 
from the speculation of it, and the energy of the 
imagination dealing in general propositions from 
that of execution in detail. 

There are causes from which delay and feeble- 
ness are experienced. But difficulty will be sur- 
mounted, and I anticipate with you that this 
country will ere long assume an attitude corre- 
spondent with its great destinies — majestic, efficient, 
and operative of great things. A noble career lies 
before it. 

Why does not Gouverneur Morris come home ? 
His talents are wanted. Men like him do not 
superabound. Indeed I wish that you were here 
rather than where you are, though I think your 
position an important one at the present juncture. 
But we want to infuse more abilities into the 
management of our national affairs. 

Governor Jay is well. He and all your friends 
continue to take a lively interest in all that con- 
cerns you. 

Adieu. Yours affectionately. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



From A. HAMILTON 

Edinburgh, 29th Oct. 1798. 

My dear Cousin, — I received a few days ago a 
letter from my brother Robert, overflowing with the 
warmest sensibility of the many important obliga- 
tions for which he is indebted to both you and 
Mrs. Hamilton. Since you take a pleasure in 
conferring happiness, it will no doubt afford you 
satisfaction to learn the joy which your friendly 
reception, and endeavour to effect my brother's 
appointment into the American Navy, has com- 
municated to his family in this country. The 
result of your application for the first-lieutenancy 
of one of the new frigates was still uncertain when 
he wrote ; but without anticipating the event, I 
may truly assure you that the endeavour has im- 
pressed the most indelible gratitude on our minds, 
and that we view with sensations of no common 
kind the excellent portrait which ornaments our 
chimney-piece. By the way, father has been in- 
formed by an American gentleman who visited 
Edinburgh lately, that it is a striking though not 
a flattering likeness of the original. In addition 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 213 

to the pleasure I received from a fair prospect of 
a permanent provision for my brother, I was not 
a little pleased that it removed him from the 
mercantile line into one for which he is much better 
qualified. A perfect knowledge of seamanship, 
and the routine of the naval duty, he has acquired 
both from long and various experience, and from 
the natural bent of his disposition, which early 
pointed to the sea. To amass a fortune by trafHc 
requires talents of a different kind. Without affect- 
ing to undervalue these talents, it may be granted 
that eminent success in the mercantile line fre- 
quently depends on artful schemes and devices, 
which certainly confer no claim to respect, how- 
ever necessary to success ; and with these poor 
Robert can boast but little acquaintance. In the 
navy I consider him as in his element. Courage, 
attention, and naval skill constitute the excellence 
of a sea officer; and of these qualities (unless my 
partiality deceive me) he is eminently possessed. 
With these impressions, you will conceive of what 
importance his admission into the American navy 
as first lieutenant appears to me. To a mind like 
yours the pleasure of doing good is, I am sensible, 
a sufficient impulse; yet as my brother resides 



214 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

under your roof, I am willing to hope that the 
unaffected simplicity, candour, and urbanity of his 
manner will in time produce a still more cogent 
motive in personal friendship. I hope you will for- 
give my talking in this manner of my own brother, 
yet I must add (even at the risk of having Mr. 
Shandy's oddities imputed to myself) that except- 
ing in the want of professional pedantry, Sterne's 
character of Uncle Toby seems to me more appli- 
cable to my brother than to any I have ever been 
acquainted with. 

In reply to your account of my acquaintance, 
Mr. Thomas Law, I am almost tempted to exclaim 
in the words of a statesman, to whom a manu- 
script plan of the famous projector Law had been 
submitted for his consideration, Oh la ! Oh la ! 
I am seriously concerned, however, to learn the 
embarrassed state of his affairs ; though what could 
induce a man of his fortune to embark in such 
extensive speculations is not easily imagined. 
Your letter affords us some hope, though but a 
distant one, of seeing some of our young cousins 
in this country ; wherever they are they will 
be followed by our kindest wishes for their pros- 
perity. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 215 

I do not pretend to transmit you information 
on political subjects, yet they occupy at present 
so considerable a portion of the thoughts and 
conversation of the world, that they are not easily 
avoided. I anticipate the pleasure of our late 
glorious victories must have communicated to the 
true friends of the present American Constitution. 
The destruction nearly total of the Toulon and 
Brest squadron, the former destined for Egypt, 
and the latter for Ireland, must have given the 
death-wound to the French navy. The rebellion, 
too, which lately appeared so formidable in Ire- 
land, utterly extinguished, and only revived occa- 
sionally in predatory attacks on the lives and 
properties of individuals, will enable the ministry 
to open the parliament with unusual eclat. The 
party of opposition has lately fallen into con- 
siderable discredit from their conduct at the trial 
of O'Connor, for whose principles they vouched 
in the most unqualified manner. Yet, notwith- 
standing these high attestations, O'Connor proves 
to be a traitor, actually conspiring to introduce 
a foreign enemy into his native country, at the 
very time in which our patriots were so loud in 
his praises. If it be admitted that they were 



2i6 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

unacquainted with O'Connor's insidious designs, 
the vehemence of the protestations must show 
how open they are to deception, and argues Ut- 
tle in favour of their understandings. Whether 
Buonaparte has reached his ultimate destination, 
or intends to prosecute his expedition to India, 
must soon appear ; as the change of monsoon, 
which happens in the month of September, will 
prevent his traversing the Indian Ocean — unless 
he has previously effected his passage. There 
are no authentic accounts of his having left Cairo. 
I beg to offer my best compliments to Mrs. Hamil- 
ton, and that you will ever believe me, my dear 

cousin, 

Faithfully yours, 

A. Hamilton. 

From PICKERING 

Philadelphia, February 20, 1799. 

Dear Sir, — Since I wrote you on the 9th, 
Dr. Stevens has been appointed Consul-General of 
St. Domingo, and will probably embark before the 
close of next week. If you have written fur- 
ther to me in answer to my letter of the 9th, the 
letter has miscarried, for I have received nothing. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 217 

I must frame Dr. Stevens's instructions in a few 
days, and wish to inform him with ideas on the 
point I stated. This cannot be done officially, 
but he will know how to use it. 



To GENERAL PINCKNEY 

Philadelphia, Dec, 1799. 

Sir, — The death of our beloved Commander- 
in-Chief was known to you before it was to me. 
I can be at no loss to anticipate what must have 
been your feelings. I need not tell you what 
have been mine. Perhaps no friend of his has 
more cause to lament on personal account than 
myself. The public misfortune is one which all 
the friends of our government will view in the 
same light. I will not dwell on the subject. My 
imagination is gloomy — my heart is sad. 

Inclosed is an order relative to the occasion 
which speaks its own object. 

With the sincerest esteem and most 

Affectionate regard, I remain, sir, 
Your very obedient servant. 



2i8 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



To MRS. WASHINGTON f 

January 12, 1800. 

I did not think it proper, madam, to intrude 
amidst the first effusions of your grief; but I can 
no longer restrain my sensibility from conveying 
to you an imperfect impression of my affectionate 
sympathy in the sorrows you experience. No one 
better than myself knows the greatness of your 
loss ; or how much your excellent heart is formed 
to feel it in all its extent. Satisfied that you 
cannot receive consolation, I will attempt to 
offer none. Resignation to the will of heaven, 
which the practice of your life insures, can alone 
alleviate the sufferings of so heartrending an 
affliction. 

There can be few who equally with me partici- 
pate in the loss you deplore. In expressing this 
sentiment, I may, without impropriety, allude to the 
numerous and distinguished marks of confidence 
and friendship of which you have yourself been a 
witness, but I cannot say in how many ways the 
continuance of that confidence and friendship was 
necessary to me in future relations. Vain, however, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 219 

are regrets. From a calamity which is common to 
a mourning nation, who can expect to be exempt ? 
Perhaps it is even a privilege to have a claim to a 
larger portion of it than others. 

I will only add, madam, that I shall esteem it a 
real and a great happiness if any future occurrence 
shall enable me to give you proof of that respectful 
and cordial attachment with which 

I have the honour to be, 
Your obliged and very obedient servant, 

A. H. 

To BAYARD^ 

New- York, January 16, 1800. 

I was glad to find, my dear sir, by your letter, 
that you had not yet determined to go, with the 
consent of the federal party, in support of Mr. Burr; 
and that you were resolved to hold yourself dis- 
engaged, till the moment of final decision. Your 
resolution to separate yourself in this instance from 
the federal party, if your conviction shall be strong 
of the unfitness of Mr. Burr, is certainly laudable. 
So much does it coincide with my ideas, that if the 

1 James Asheton Bayard, M.C., of Delaware. 



220 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETFERS 

party shall, by supporting Mr. Burr as President, 
adopt him for their official chief, I shall be obliged 
to consider myself as an isolated man. It will be 
impossible for me to reconcile with my motives of 
honour or policy, the continuing to be of a party 
which, according to my apprehension, will have 
degraded itself and the country. 

I am sure, nevertheless, that the motives of many 
will be good, and I shall never cease to esteem the 
individuals, though I shall deplore a step which I 
fear experience will show to be a very fatal one. 
Among the letters which I receive, assigning the 
reasons pro and con, for preferring Burr to J., I 
observe no small exaggeration to the prejudice of 
the latter, and some things taken for granted as to 
the former, which are at least questionable. Per- 
haps, myself the first, at some expense of popularity, 
to unfold the true character of Jefferson, it is too 
late for me to become his apologist. Nor can I 
have any disposition to do it. 

I admit that his politics are tinctured with fanati- 
cism ; that he is too much in earnest in his democ- 
racy ; that he has been a mischievous enemy to the 
principal measures of our past administration ; that 
he is crafty and persevering in his objects ; that he 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 221 

is not scrupulous about the means of success, nor 
very mindful of truth, and that he is a contemptible 
hypocrite. But, it is not true, as is alleged, that he 
is an enemy to the power of the Executive, or that 
he is for confounding all the powers in the House 
of Representatives. It is a fact, which I have fre- 
quently mentioned, that, while we were in the ad- 
ministration together, he was generally for a large 
construction of the Executive authority, and not 
backward to act upon it when it coincided with his 
views. Let it be added, that in his theoretic ideas, 
he has considered as improper the participations of 
the Senate in the Executive authority. I have more 
than once made the reflection, that, viewing himself 
as the reversioner, he was solicitous to come into 
the possession of a good estate. Nor is it true, that 
Jefferson is zealot enough to do anything in pur- 
suance of his principles which will contravene his 
popularity or his interest. He is as likely as any 
man I know, to temporize ; to calculate what will 
be likely to promote his own reputation and advan- 
tage, and the probable result of such a temper is 
the preservation of systems, though originally op- 
posed, which being once established, could not be 
overturned without danger to the person who did 



222 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

it. To my mind, a true estimate of Mr. Jefferson's 
character warrants the expectation of a temporizing, 
rather than a violent system. That Jefferson has 
manifested a culpable predilection for France, is 
certainly true ; but I think it a question whether it 
did not proceed quite as much from her popularity 
among us as from sentiment ; and in proportion as 
that popularity is diminished, his zeal will cool. 
Add to this, that there is no fair reason to suppose 
him capable of being corrupted, which is a security 
that he will not go beyond certain limits. It is 
not at all improbable, that in the change of cir- 
cumstances, Jefferson's Gallicism has considerably 
abated. 

As to Burr, these things are admitted, and 
indeed cannot be denied, that he is man of ex- 
treme and irregular ambition ; that he is selfish 
to a degree which excludes all social affections ; 
and that he is decidedly profligate. But it is 
said, ist, that he is artful and dexterous to ac- 
complish his ends ; 2d, that he holds no pernicious 
theories, but is a mere vtatter of fact man ; 
3d, that his very selfishness ^ is a guard against mis- 
chievous foreign predilections ; 4th, that his Ipcal 

^ It is always dangerous to look at the vices of men for good. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 223 

situation has enabled him to appreciate the utility 
of our commercial and fiscal systems, and the 
same quality of selfishness will lead him to sup- 
port and invigorate them ; 5th, that he is now dis- 
liked by the Jacobins ; that his elevation will be a 
mortal stab to them, breed an invincible hatred to 
him, and compel him to lean on the federalists ; 
6th, that Burr's ambition will be checked by his -good 
sense, by the manifest impossibility of succeeding 
in any scheme of usuipation, and that, if attempted, 
there is nothing to fear from the attempt. These 
topics are in my judgment more plausible than 
solid. As to the first point the fact must be 
admitted; but those qualities are objections rather 
than recommendations, when they are under the 
direction of bad principles. As to the second 
point, too much is taken for granted. If Burr's 
conversation is to be credited, he is not very far 
from being a visionary. He has quoted to me Con- 
necticut as an example of the success of the demo- 
cratic theory, and as authority, seriously doubts 
whether it was not a good one. It is ascertained, 
in some instances, that he has talked perfect God- 
winism. I have myself heard him speak Vvith 
applause of the French system, as unshackling the 



2 24 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

mind, and leaving it to its natural energies ; and 
I have been present when he has contended against 
banking systems ^ with earnestness, and with the 
same arguments that Jefferson would use. 

The truth is, that Burr is a man of a very- 
subtile imagination, and a mind of this make is 
rarely free from ingenious whimsies. Yet I admit 
that he has no fixed theory, and that his peculiar 
notions will easily give way to his interest. But 
is it a recommendation to have no theory? Can 
that man be a systematic or able statesman who 
has none ? I believe not. No general principles 
will hardly work better than erroneous ones. 

As to the third point, it is certain that Burr, 
generally speaking, has been as warm a partisan 
of France as Jefferson ; that he has, in some in- 
stances, shown himself to be so with passion. 
But if it was from calculation, who will say that 
his calculations will not continue him so? His 
selfishness,'^ so far from being an obstacle, may be 
a prompter. If corrupt, as well as selfish, he may 

^ Yet he has lately by a trick established a bank — a monster in its 
principles, but a very convenient instmment of profit and influence. 

'^ Unprincipled selfishness is more apt to seek rapid gain in disorderly 
practices than slow advantages from orderly systems. 

[The footnotes to this letter are Hamilton's. — Ed.] 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 225 

be a partisan for gain. If ambitious, as well as 
selfish, he may be a partisan for the sake of aid 
to his views. No man has trafficked more than 
he in the floating passions of the multitude. 
Hatred to Great Britain and attachment to France 
in the public mind, will naturally lead a man of 
his selfishness, attached to place and power, to 
favour France and oppose Great Britain. The 
Gallicism of many of our patriots is to be thus 
resolved, and in my opinion, it is morally certain 
that Burr will continue to be influenced by this 
calculation. 

As to the fourth point, the instance I have 
cited with respect to banks, proves that the argu- 
ment is not to be relied upon. If there was much 
in it, why does Chancellor Livingston maintain 
that we ought not to cultivate navigation, but 
ought to let foreigners be our carriers ? France 
is of this opinion too; and Burr, for some reason 
or other, will be very apt to be of the opinion of 
France. 

As to the fifth point, nothing can be more 
fallacious. It is demonstrated by recent facts ^ 
that Burr is solicitous to keep upon anti-federal 

^ He trusts to ihtxr prejudices and hopes for support. 
Q 



226 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

ground to avoid compromitting himself by any 
engagements with the federalists. With or with- 
out such engagements he will easily persuade his 
former friends, that he does not stand on that 
ground ; and after their first resentment they will 
be glad to rally under him. In the meantime 
he will take care not to disoblige them ; and he 
will always court those among them who are best 
fitted for tools. He will never choose to lean on 
good men, because he knows that they will never 
support his bad projects, but instead of this he 
will endeavour to disorganize both parties, and to 
form out of them a third, composed of men fitted 
by their characters to be conspirators and instru- 
ments of such projects. 

That this will be his future conduct may be 
inferred by his past plan, and from the admitted 
quality of irregular ambition. Let it be remem- 
bered that Mr. Burr has never appeared solicitous 
for fame, and that great ambition, unchecked by 
principle, or the love of glory, is an unruly tyrant, 
which never can keep long in a course which 
good men will approve. As to the last point, the 
proposition is against the experience of all times. 
Ambition without principle never was long under 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 227 

the guidance of good sense. Besides that, the 
force of Mr. Burr's understanding is much over- 
rated. He is far more cunning than wise, far 
more dexterous than able. 

(Very confidential) — In my opinion he is in- 
ferior in real ability to Jefferson. There are also 
facts against the supposition. It is past all doubt, 
that he has blamed me for not having improved 
the situation I once was in to charge the govern- 
ment. That when answered that this could not 
have been done without guilt, he replied, " Les 
grands ames se soucient peu des petits moraux ; " 
and when told the thing was never practicable, 
from the genius and situation of the country, he 
answered, " That depends on the estimate we 
form of the human passions, and of the means oi 
influencing them." Does this prove that Mr. 
Burr would consider a scheme of usurpation 
visionary ? 

The truth is, with great apparent coldness he 
is the most sanguine man in the world. He 
thinks everything possible to adventure and per- 
severance ; and though I believe he will fail, I 
think it almost certain he will attempt usurpation, 
and the attempt will involve great mischief. But 



2 28 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

there is one point of view which seems to me 
decisive. If the anti-federahsts, who prevailed in 
the election, are left to take their own man, they 
remain responsible, and the federalists remain 
free, united, and without stain, in a situation to 
resist, with effect, pernicious measures. If the 
federalists substitute Burr, they adopt him and 
become answerable for him. Whatever may be 
the theory of the case abroad and at ho7ne, (for 
so from the beginning will be taught,) Mr. Burr 
must become in fact the man of our party ; and 
if he acts ill we must share in the blame and dis- 
grace. By adopting him, we do all we can to 
reconcile the minds of the federalists to him, and 
we prepare them for the effectual operation of 
his arts. He will, doubtless, gain many of them ; 
and the federalists will become a disorganized and 
contemptible party. Can there be any serious 
question between the policy of leaving the anti- 
federalists to be answerable for the elevation of an 
objectionable man, and that of adopting, ourselves, 
and becoming answerable for, a man, who on all 
hands is acknowledged to be a complete Catiline.'* 
'Tis enough to state the question to indicate the an- 
swer, if reason, not passion, presides in the decision, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 229 

You may communicate this and my former 

letter to discreet and confidential friends. 

Yours very truly, 

A. H. 

To MRS. HAMILTON 

Portsmouth, June 21, 1800. 
Saturday. 

I am here, my beloved, and to-morrow shall 

leave it for Boston, where I had hoped to arrive 

on Monday evening. The next morning I intend 

to proceed for Providence and New Port where 

I shall take passage for New- York by water. If 

I am fortunate in the passage I may hope to 

embrace you in Eight days from this time. 

Most tenderly yours, 

A. H. 

From GOUVERNEUR MORRIS 

Washington, January 5th, 1801. 

My dear Sir, — I have received your favours of 
the 24th and 25th of last month. 1 am much 
obliged for both. 

The convention with France will be ratified 
sub modo. Such, at least, is my opinion. I wish 



230 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

first to strike out the 2d and 3d article; secondly 
to fix a limitation of time. The 2d article, by- 
suspending the operation, admits the existence of 
former treaties. The restitution of our trophies 
stipulated by the third, may damp the spirit of 
our country. That nation, which will permit profit 
or convenience to stand in competition with hon- 
our, is on the steep descent to ruin. If, with the 
exception of those articles, and a limitation of time, 
the convention be mutually ratified, I shall think 
it no bad bargain. Will the French consul ratify 
it when so curtailed and limited ? Perhaps, if his 
affairs are prosperous, he will not. Some gentle- 
men propose adding a clause, to declare that it 
shall not prejudice former treaties. This appears 
dangerous, because, if afterwards ratified without 
that clause, such ratification may be construed as 
an assent to the conclusion, which the declaration 
was intended to obviate. 

On the election between Mr. Jefferson and Mr. 
Burr, there is much speculation. Some, indeed 
most, of our Eastern friends are warm in support 
of the latter, and their pride is so much up about 
the charge of influence that it is dangerous to 
quote an opinion. I trust they will change or be 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 231 

disappointed, for they appear to be moved by pas- 
sion only. I have, more at the request of others 
than from my own mere motion, suggested certain 
considerations not quite unworthy of attention; 
but it is dangerous to be impartial in politics. 
You, who are temperate in drinking, have never, 
perhaps, noticed the awkward situation of a man 
who continues sober after the company are drunk. 
Adieu, my dear Hamilton. God bless you and 
send you many happy years. 



To LAFAYETTE 

New-York, January 6th, i8or. 

I have been made happy, my dear friend, by 
the receipt of your letter of the 12th August 
last. No explanation of your political principles 
was necessary to satisfy me of the perfect consist- 
ency and purity of your conduct. The interpre- 
tation may always be left to my attachment to you. 
Whatever difference of opinion may on any occa- 
sion exist between us, can never lessen my con- 
viction of the goodness both of your head and 
heart. I expect from you a return of this senti- 
ment as far as concerns the heart. It is needless 



232 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

to detail to you my political tenets. I shall only 
say, that I hold, with Montesquieu, that a govern- 
ment must be fitted to a nation as much as a 
coat to an individual ; and consequently, what 
may be good at Philadelphia, may be bad at 
Paris, and ridiculous at Petersburg. 

I join with you in regretting the misunderstand- 
ing between our two countries. You will have 
seen by the President's speech, that a door is 
again opened for terminating them amicably ; and 
you may be assured that we are sincere, and that 
it is in the power of France, by reparation to our 
merchants for past injury, and the stipulation of 
justice in future, to put an end to the controversy. 

But I do not much like the idea of your being 
in any way implicated in the affair, lest you should 
be compromitted in the opinion of one or other of 
the parties. 

It is my opinion, that it is best for you to 
stand aloof; neither have I abandoned the idea 
that it is most advisable for you to remain in 
Europe till the difference is adjusted. It would 
be very difficult here for you to steer a course 
which would not place you in a party, and remove 
you from the broad ground which you now occupy 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 233 

in the hearts of all. It is a favourite point with me, 
that you shall find in the universal regard of this 
country all the consolations which the loss of your 
own (for so I consider it) may render requisite. 
Believe me always, 
Your very cordial and faithful friend, 

A. H. 



To KING 

New- York, June 3, 1802. 

My dear Sir, — I have long been very delin- 
quent towards you as a correspondent, and am to 
thank you that you have not cast me off altogether 
as an irretrievable reprobate. But you know how 
to appreciate the causes, and you have made a 
construction equally just and indulgent. 

In your last you ask my opinion about a mat- 
ter delicate and important, both in a public and 
in a personal view. I shall give it with the frank- 
ness to which you have a right, and I may add 
that the impressions of your other friends, so far as 
they have fallen under my observation, do not dif- 
fer from my own. While you were in the midst 
of a negotiation interesting to your country, it 



234 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

was your duty to keep your post. You have now 
accomplished the object, and with the good for- 
tune, not very common, of having the universal 
plaudit. This done, it seems to me most advis- 
able that you return home. There is little prob- 
ability that your continuance in your present 
station will be productive of much positive good. 
Nor are circumstances such as to give reason to 
apprehend that the substitute for you, whoever he j 
may be, can do much harm. Your stay or return, 
therefore, as it regards our transatlantic concerns, 
is probably not material, while your presence at , 
home may be useful in ways which it is not nee- ! 
essary to particularize. Besides, it is questionable i 
whether you can long continue in the service of j 
the present administration, consistently with what 
is due as well to your own character as to the j 
common cause. I am far from thinking that a \ 
man is bound to quit a public office, merely be- j 
cause the administration of the government may . 
have changed hands. But when those who have j 
come into power are undisguised persecutors of 
the party to which he has been attached, and ; 
study with ostentation to heap upon it every in- \ 
dignity and injury — he ought not, in my opinion, j 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 235 

to permit himself to be made an exception, or to 
lend his talents to the support of such characters. 
If, in addition to this, it be true that the principles 
and plans of the men at the head of affairs tend 
to the degradation of the government, and to 
their own disgrace, it will hardly be possible to 
be in any way connected with them without 
sharing in the disrepute which they may be des- 
tined to experience. 

I wish I had time to give you a comprehensive 
and particular map of our political situation ; but 
more than a rude outline is beyond my leisure. 

You have seen the course of the administration^ 
hitherto, especially during the last session of Con- 
gress ; and I am persuaded you will agree with me 
in opinion, that it could hardly have been more 
diligent in mischief. What, you will ask, has 
been and is likely to be the effect on the public 
mind? 

Our friends are sanguine that a great change for 
the better has been wrought and is progressive. I 
suppose good has been done — that the federalists 
have been reunited and cemented; have been 
awakened, alarmed. Perhaps, too, there may be 

1 Jefferson's. — Ed. 



236 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

some sensible and moderate men of the opposite 
party who are beginning to doubt. But I as yet 
discover no satisfactory symptoms of a revokition 
of opinion in the mass — " informe ingens cui 
lumen ademptum." Nor do I look with much 
expectation to any serious alteration until incon- 
veniences are extensively felt, or till time has pro- 
duced a disposition to coquet it with new lovers. 
Vibrations of power, you are aware, are of the 
genius of our government. 

There is, however, a circumstance which may accel- 
erate the fall of the present party. There is certainly 
a most serious schism between the chief and his heir- 
apparent;^ a schism absolutely incurable, because 
founded in the hearts of both, in the rivalship of an 
insatiable ambition. The effects are already appar- 
ent, and are ripening into a more bitter animosity 
between the partisans of the two men, than ever 
existed between the federalists and the anti- 
federalists. 

Unluckily we are not as neutral to this quarrel 
as we ought to be. You saw, however, how far our 
friends in Congress went in polluting themselves 
with the support of the second personage for the 

^ Burr. — Ed. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 237 

Presidency. The cabal did not terminate there. 
Several men of no inconsiderable importance 
among us, like the enterprising and adventurous 
character of this man, and hope to soar with him to 
power. Many more, through hatred to the chief, 
and through an impatience to recover the reins, 
are linking themselves to the new chief almost 
without perceiving it, and professing to have no 
other object than to make use of him ; while he 
knows that he is making use of them. What this 
may end in, it is diflficult to perceive. 

Of one thing only I am sure, that in no event 
will I be directly or indirectly implicated in a 
responsibility for the elevation or support of either 
of two men who, in different senses, are in my eyes 
equally unworthy of the confidence of intelligent 
or honest men. 

Truly, my dear sir, the prospects of our country 
are not brilliant. The mass is far from sound. At 
head quarters a most visionary theory presides. 
Depend upon it, this is the fact to a great extreme. 
No army, no navy, no active commerce ; national 
defence, not by arms, but by embargoes, prohibi- 
tions of trade, &c. ; as little government as possible 
within; these are the pernicious dreams, which, as 



238 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

far and as fast as possible, will be attempted to be 
realized. Mr. Jefferson is distressed at the codfish 
having latterly emigrated to the southern coast, lest 
the people there should be tempted to catch them, 
and commerce, of which we have already too much, 
receive an accession. Be assured, this is no pleas- 
antry, but a very sober anecdote. 

Among federalists old terrors are not cured. 
They also continue to dream, although not quite so 
preposterously as their opponents. All will be very 
well (say they) when the power once gets back into 
federal hands. The people, convinced by experi- 
ence of their error, will repose a permanent confi- 
dence in good men. Risum teneatis ? Adieu. 

Yours ever, 

A. Hamilton. 

To OLIVER WOLCOTT 

Grange, August 14. 1802. 

My dear Sir, — When you were last in town I 
proposed to communicate to you the outline of a 
project, by which I think you may enter upon a 
career of business beneficial to yourself and your 
friends. My almost constant attendance at court 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 239 

ever since you were here, has retarded the com- 
munication which I shall now make. 

Let a commercial capital be found, to consist of 
100,000 dollars, divided into shares of $100 each. 
A subscriber to pay in cash one-tenth of his sub- 
scription, and for the residue 7 per centum per 
annum. It will then be his interest to pay up as 
soon as he can. 

The subscribers to form a partnership, under the 
firm of Oliver Wolcott and Co. ; Oliver Wolcott 
alone to have the signature of the firm, and the active 
management of the affairs of the company, with an 
allowance of $1500 per annum out of the profits for 
the trouble of management, besides his share of 
profits as a partner. 

Oliver Wolcott and two others of the partners to 
form a board of direction, to plan, &c. 

Clerks and all incidental expenses to be paid out 
of the fund. 

The objects of the company: 

1. Agencies for purchase of lands, stocks, &c. 

2. Factorage of cargoes, consigned on commis- 
sion ; purchases of goods on commission &c. ; 
in brief, " the business of a commission mer- 
chant merely." 



240 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

3. Purchases at auction, and sales of the articles 
purchased. 

4. Loans of money on deposit of goods, with 
a right, if not redeemed in time, to sell on 
commission, perhaps. 

Speculation in navigation and commerce to be 
excluded. 

In a company thus formed under your manage- 
ment, I should be willing to become a partner 
for from five to ten thousand dollars, and I have no 
doubt that the capital will be readily formed of 
confidential and trustworthy characters, who would 
insure great credit to the house. I am also confi- 
dent, that when it should be known in Europe 
that certain characters were of the company, it 
would attract a good portion of profitable employ- 
ment. 

I will enter into no farther detail. If the project 
impresses you favourably, come to New York, and 
we will give it form and finish, and prepare for the 
execution. Do not lightly reject it. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 241 



To MORRIS 

Grange, September 4th, 1802. 

My dear Sir, — I fully intended to have dined 
with you to-day, but, going to town the last two 
days, and forgetting that I ought to observe a 
regimen, I have brought back, in some degree, the 
complaint which lately annoyed me, and which 
requires to be well watched. This must deprive 
me of the pleasure of seeing you. 

I send schedules of the papers required of Tillier, 
all which have been put into my hands; the bills 
to remain till the close of the affair; the other 
documents to be delivered to your order. 

I also send a draught of the trust deed. It en- 
deavours to comply with your suggestion, as far 
as can be done without running foul of the danger 
desired to be avoided. 

Your guests are invited to dine with us Thurs- 
day next. Will you make one .'' 



242 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

To GENERAL C. C. PINCKNEY 

Grange (New-York), December 29, 1802. 

My dear Sir, — A garden, you know, is a very 
usual refuge of a disappointed politician. Accord- 
ingly I have purchased a few acres about nine 
miles from town, have built a house, and am cul- 
tivating a garden. The melons in your country 
are very fine. Will you have the goodness to 
send me some seed, both of the water and musk 
melons ? My daughter adds another request, which 
is for three or four of your paroquets. She is very 
fond of birds. If there be anything in this quarter, 
the sending of which can give you pleasure, you 
have only to name them. As farmers, a new 
source of sympathy has arisen between us, and 
I am pleased with everything in which our likings 
and tastes can be approximated. Amidst the 
triumphant reign of democracy, do you retain 
sufficient interest in public affairs to feel any curi- 
osity about what is going on ? In my opinion, the 
follies and vices of the administration have as yet 
made no material impression to their disadvantage. 
On the contrary, I think the malady is rather 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 243 

progressive than on the decHne, in our northern 
quarter. The last lullaby message, instead of 
inspiring contempt, attracts praise. Mankind are 
for ever destined to be the dupes of bold or 
cunning imposture. But a difficult knot has been 
twisted by the incidents of the cession of Louisiana, 
and the interruption of the deposit of New Orleans. 
You have seen the soft turn given to this in the 
message. Yet we are told that the President, in 
conversation, is very stout. The great embarrass- 
ment must be how to carry on the war without 
taxes. The pretty scheme of substituting economy 
to taxation will not do here. And a war would 
be a terrible comment upon the abandonment 
of the internal revenue. Yet how is popularity 
to be preserved with the western partisans, if their 
interests are tamely sacrificed? Will the artifice 
be for the chief to hold a bold language, and the 
subalterns to act a feeble part? Time must ex- 
plain. You know my general theory as to our 
western affairs. I have always held that the unity 
of our empire, and the best interests of our 
nation, require that we shall annex to the United 
States all the territory east of the Mississippi, 
New Orleans included. Of course I infer that, 



244 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS \ J 

on an emergency like the present, energy is wis- ; 
dom. 

Mrs. Hamilton joins me in affectionate compli- i 
ments to Mrs. Pinckney. 



From LAFAYETTE 

Paris, Germinal the loth, nth year. 

My dear Hamilton, — I would like by this oppor- 
tunity to write you a long letter, but have been 
lying on my back for two months past, and being 
three weeks to come doomed to the same situation, 
I must confine myself to a few lines written near 
my bed. The particulars of the accident and its 
cure, will be given to you by General Bernadotte, 
whom I must particularly introduce, and his lady, 
to Mrs. Hamilton and you. Politics I will not 
dwell upon. My sentiments are so well known to 
you that it were superfluous to say what I think 
of Senatus-Consulta at home, and settling colonies 
in North America; yet I hope this late affair may 
still be arranged to mutual satisfaction, and I am 
sure nobody could have better personal dispositions 
than my friend General Bernadotte, who, to those 
high and brilliant abilities which have so much 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 245 

contributed to the triumph of the French arms, 
joins one of the most civic, candid, and generous 
hearts it is possible to meet with. I know he 
sets a great value by the approbation of the citi- 
zens of America, and is particularly desirous of 
your acquaintance, and properly sensible of its 
advantages. I have seen in the papers a letter from 
you relative to the transactions at our York Town 
redoubt, in which I have found my friend Hamil- 
ton's whole character ; and the more pleased I have 
been to receive it, as the attack had been some time 
known to me, but on the proposal of some friends 
to write to you, I had answered you were on the 
spot, and would know better what was best for 
me to be done. Adieu, my dear friend ; my best 
respects to Mrs. Hamilton. Remember me to our 
friends. I know you are most friendly interested 
in my private concerns, and have ever depended 
upon it. 

Most affectionately I am your constant friend, 

La Fayette. 



246 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



From GOVERNOR WALSTERSTORFF 

St. Croix, April 20th, 1803. 

Dear General, — When I received your favour of 
the 5th August, I certainly did not think I should 
postpone so long answering it, and returning you 
my thanks for this proof of your kind remembrance. 
I shall offer you no apology for it, because there 
is none that would be satisfactory to myself. I beg 
you only to be assured, dear General, that there is 
not a character in America for whom I feel a 
greater regard and respect than that of General 
Hamilton, whose talents will no doubt soon again 
be called into action to the honour and advantage 
of his country. 

You would oblige me very much by sending our 
friend, Dr. Stevens, a copy of Camillus' letters, and 
of your later productions ; the only copy of Camil- 
lus' letters which I had, I once lent to the late 
Count Bernstorff, who begged of me to let him 
keep it in his library as a classical work — these 
were his expressions. 

Accept my sincerest wishes for your happiness 
and that of your family, and believe me to be, 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 247 

with the greatest regard, and the sincerest attach- 
ment &c. 

To TALLEYRAND 

New York, March 25th, 1804. 

Sir^ — Presuming on the acquaintance, from 
which I derived much pleasure during your stay 
in this country, I am going to take a very great 
liberty. It concerns a near relation of mine, 
Mr. Alexander Hamilton, now a prisoner of war 
on parole at Paris. 

His brother, from whom I have just received 
a letter, informs me that on a visit to the con- 
tinent, as a traveller, he was overtaken by the 
war between France and Great Britain, and has 
been since that time in the situation which I 
have mentioned. He is a Scotch gentleman of 
education and literary acquirement, who, having 
amassed a pretty handsome fortune in the East 
Indies, had returned to his own country to devote 
himself to the pursuits of knowledge, and was 
induced to pass over to the continent to indulge 
his curiosity, with a particular eye to the very 
interesting monuments of the arts, of which Paris 
is now the depository. 



248 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

I will ask nothing specific for him, because I 
know not what could with propriety be done, con- 
tenting myself with merely saying, that if your 
interposition can procure for him any facility, 
indulgence, or favour, it will confer a personal 
obligation on one who has the honour &c. 



V 

THE DUEL 



From BURR 

New- York, June i8th, 1804. 

Sir, — I send for your perusal a letter signed 
Charles D. Cooper, which, though apparently pub- 
lished some time ago, has but recently come to 
my knowledge. Mr. Van Ness, who does me the 
favour to deliver this, will point out to you that 
clause of the letter to which I particularly call 
your attention. 

You must perceive, sir, the necessity of a prompt, 
unqualified acknowledgment or denial of the use 
of any expression which would warrant the asser- 
tions of Dr. Cooper. 

I have the honour to be your obedient servant, 

A. Burr. 



To BURR 

June 20th, 1804. 

Sir, — I have maturely reflected on the sub- 
stance of your letter of the eighteenth inst., and 
the more I have reflected the more I have become 

251 



252 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

convinced that I could not, without manifest im- 
propriety, make the avowal or disavowal which 
you seem to think necessary. The clause pointed 
out by Mr. Van Ness is in these terms : " I could 
detail to you a still more despicable opinion which 
Mr. Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr." To 
endeavour to discover the meaning of this declara- 
tion I was obliged to seek in the antecedent part 
of the letter for the opinion to which it referred 
as having been already disclosed. I found it in 
these words: "General Hamilton and Judge Kent 
have declared in substance that they looked upon 
Mr. Burr as a dangerous man and one who ought 
not to be trusted with the reins of government. 

The language of Dr. Cooper plainly implies 
that he considered this opinion of you, which he 
attributes to me, as a despicable one ; but he 
affirms that I have expressed some other, more 
despicable, without, however, mentioning to whom, 
when, or where. 'Tis evident that the phrase, 
"still more despicable," admits of infinite shades, 
from very light to very dark. How am I to 
judge of the degree intended ? or how shall I 
annex any precise idea to language so indefi- 
nite } 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 253 

Between gentlemen, despicable and more des- 
picable are not worth the pains of distinction ; 
when, therefore, you do not interrogate me as to 
the opinion which is specifically ascribed to me, 
I must conclude that you view it as within the 
limits to which the animadversions of political 
opponents upon each other may justifiably extend ; 
and consequently as not warranting the idea of 
it which Dr. Cooper appears to entertain. If so, 
what precise inference could you draw, as a judge 
for your conduct, were I to acknowledge that I 
had expressed an opinion still more despicable than 
the one which is particularized 1 How could you 
be sure that even this opinion had exceeded the 
bounds which you yourself deem admissible be- 
tween political opponents } 

But I forbear further comment on the embarrass- 
ment to which the requisition you have made 
naturally leads. The occasion forbids a more am- 
ple illustration, though nothing could be more easy 
than to pursue it. 

Repeating that I cannot reconcile it with pro- 
priety to make the acknowledgment or denial 
you desire, I will add that I deem it inadmissible, 
on principle, to consent to be interrogated as to 



254 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

the justness of the inferences which may be drawn 
by others from whatever I may have said of a 
poHtical opponent of fifteen years' competition. 
If there were no other objection to it, this is 
sufficient, that it would tend to expose my sin- 
cerity and dehcacy to injurious imputations from 
every person who may at any time have con- 
ceived the import of my expressions differently 
from what I may then have intended or may 
afterwards recollect. I stand ready to avow or 
disavow promptly and explicitly any precise or 
definite opinion which I may be charged with 
having declared of any gentleman. More than 
this cannot fitly be expected from me ; and 
especially, it cannot reasonably be expected that 
I shall enter into an explanation upon a basis 
so vague as that which you have adopted. I 
trust on more reflection you will see the matter 
in the same light with me. If not I can only 
regret the circumstance and must abide the con- 
sequences. 

The publication of Dr. Cooper was never seen by 
me till after the receipt of your letter. 

I have the honour to be, &c., 

A. Hamilton. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 255 

From BURR 

New York, June 21, 1804. 

Sir, — Your letter of the 20th inst. has been 
this day received. Having considered it atten- 
tively, I regret to find in it nothing of that sincerity 
and delicacy which you profess to value. 

Political opposition can never absolve gentlemen 
from the necessity of a rigid adherence to the laws 
of honour and the rules of decorum. I neither 
claim such privilege nor indulge it in others. 
The common sense of mankind affixes to the 
epithet adopted by Dr. Cooper the idea of dis- 
honour. It has been publicly applied to me under 
the sanction of your name. The question is not, 
whether he has understood the meaning of the 
word, or has used it according to syntax and 
with grammatical accuracy : but whether you have 
authorized this declaration, either directly or by 
uttering expressions derogatory to my honour.^ 

^ One may imagine the grin with which Burr penned these high-flown 
sentiments, for visionary and sanguine as he was, there is no reason to 
believe that he had any delusions regarding his own honour. And he 
had never been under any delusions regarding Hamilton's opinion of 
him. Had he been sincere in seeking redress, from motives of outraged 
honour, or even for purely political reasons, he would have challenged 
Hamilton after his loss of the Presidency, four years before. — Ed. 



256 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

The time " when " is in your own knowledge, but 
no way material to me, as the calumny has now 
first been disclosed, so as to become the subject 
of my notice, and as the effect is present and 
palpable. 

Your letter has furnished me with new reasons 
for requiring a definite reply. 

I have the honour to be, sir. Your obedient 

A. Burr. 



To BURR 

New York, June 22, 1804. 

Sir, — Your first letter, in a style too peremptory, 
made a demand, in my opinion, unprecedented and 
unwarrantable. My answer, pointing out the em- 
barrassment, gave you an opportunity to take a 
less exceptionable course. You have not chosen 
to do it ; but, by your last letter, received this day, 
containing expressions indecorous and improper, 
you have increased the difficulties intrinsically 
incident to the nature of your application. 

If by a definite reply you mean the direct avowal 
or disavowal required in your first letter, I have no 
other answer to give, than that which has already 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 257 

been given. If you mean anything different, 
admitting of greater latitude, it is requisite you 
should explain. 

I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient . 

Alex. Hamilton. 

To SEDGWICK 

New York, July loth, 1804. 

My dear Sir, — I have received two letters from 
you since we last saw each other — that of the 
latest date being the twenty-fourth of May. I 
have had on hand for some time a long letter to 
you, explaining the course and tendency of our 
politics, and my intention as to my own future 
conduct. But my plan embraced so large a range, 
that, owing to much avocation, some indifferent 
health, and a growing distaste for politics, the 
letter is still considerably short of being finished. 
I write this now to satisfy you that want of regard 
for you has not been the cause of my silence. 

I will express but one sentiment, which is, that 
DLSMEMBERMENT of our EMPIRE wiU bc a clcar sacri- 
fice of great positive advantages, without any 
counterbalancing good ; administering no relief to 



258 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

our real disease, which is democracy; the poison 
of which, by a subdivision, will only be the more 
concentrated in each part, and consequently the 
more virulent. King is on his way to Boston, 
where you may chance to see him, and hear from 
himself his sentiments. 

God bless you. 

A. H. 



APPENDIX 




wp^^^ili^^'^^^ 






1 \%lTt 



^•1 1 



.% 



iiiii 



■ 



Found in the Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark 

"The Royal Danish-American Gazette," Vol. III., No. 234, 
Saturday, October 3d, 1772. Edited by Thibgij, Christianstadt, 
St. Croix. 

The following letter was written the week after the Hurricane, by a 
Youth of this Island, to his Father ; the copy of it fell by accident into 
the hands of a gentleman, who, being pleased with it himself, shewed 
it to others to whom it gave equal satisfaction, and who all agreed 
that it might not prove uninteresting to the Publick. The Author's 
modesty in long refusing to submit it to the Publick view, is the reason 
of its making its appearance so late as it now does. 

St. Croix, Sept. 6, 1772. 

Honoured Sir, — I take up my pen just to give 
you an imperfect account of the most dreadful hur- 
ricane that memory or any records whatever can 
trace, which happened here on the 31st ultimo at 
night. 

It began about dusk, at North, and raged very 
violently till ten o'clock. Then ensued a sudden 
and unexpected interval, which lasted about an 
hour. Meanwhile the wind was shifting round to 
the South West point, from whence it returned 
with redoubled fury and continued so till near three 
o'clock in the morning. Good God ! what horror 

261 



262 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 



l 



and destruction — it's impossible for me to describe 

— or you to form any idea of it. It seemed as if a 
total dissolution of nature was taking place. The 
roaring of the sea and wind — fiery meteors flying 
about in the air — the prodigious glare of almost 
perpetual lightning — the crash of the falling houses 

— and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, 
were sufificient to strike astonishment into Angels. 
A great part of the buildings throughout the Island 
are levelled to the ground — almost all the rest very 
much shattered — several persons killed and num- 
bers utterly ruined — whole families running about 
the streets unknowing where to find a place of shel- 
ter — the sick exposed to the keenness of water and 
air — without a bed to lie upon — or a dry covering 
to their bodies — our harbour is entirely bare. In 
a word, misery in all its most hideous shapes spread 
over the whole face of the country. — A strong smell 
of gunpowder added somewhat to the terrors of the 
night; and it was observed that the rain was sur- 
prisingly salt. Indeed, the water is so brackish and 
full of sulphur that there is hardly any drinking it. 

My reflections and feelings on this frightful and 
melancholy occasion are set forth in following self- 
discourse. 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 263 

Where now, Oh ! vile worm, is all thy boasted 
fortitude and resolution ? what is become of thy 
arrogance and self-sufficiency? — why dost thou 
tremble and stand aghast? how humble — how 
helpless — how contemptible you now appear. And 
for why ? the jarring of the elements — the discord 
of clouds ? Oh, impotent presumptuous fool ! how 
darest thou offend that omnipotence, whose nod 
alone were sufficient to quell the destruction that 
hovers over thee, or crush thee into atoms? See 
thy wretched helpless state and learn to know 
thyself. Learn to know thy best support. * Despise 
thyself and adore thy God. How sweet — how 
unutterably sweet were now the voice of an ap- 
proving conscience ; — then couldst thou say — 
hence ye idle alarms — why do I shrink? What 
have I to fear ? A pleasing calm suspense ! a short 
repose from calamity to end in eternal bliss? — let 
the earth rend, let the planets forsake their course 
— let the sun be extinguished, and the heavens 
burst asunder — yet what have I to dread? my staff 
can never be broken — in omnipotence I trust. 

He who gave the winds to blow and the light- 
nings to rage — even him I have always loved 
and served — his precepts have I observed — his 



264 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

commandments have I obeyed — and his perfections 
have I adored. — He will snatch me from ruin — he 
will exalt me to the fellowship of Angels and 
Seraphs, and to the fulness of never ending joys. 

But alas! how different, how deplorable — how 
gloomy the prospect — death comes rushing on in 
triumph veiled in a mantle of ten-fold darkness. 
His unrelenting scythe, pointed and ready for the 
stroke. — On his right hand sits destruction, hurling 
the winds and belching forth flames; — calamity on 
his left threatening famine, disease, distress of all 
kinds. — And Oh ! thou wretch, look still a little 
further; see the gulf of eternal mystery open — 
there mayest thou shortly plunge — the just reward 
of thy vileness. — Alas ! whither canst thou fly ? 
where hide thyself.? thou canst not call upon thy 
God; — thy life has been a continual warfare with 
him. 

Hark! ruin and confusion on every side. — 'Tis 
thy turn next: but one short moment — even now 
— Oh Lord help — Jesus be merciful ! 

Thus did I reflect, and thus at every gust of the 
wind did I conclude, — till it pleased the Almighty 
to allay it. — Nor did my emotions proceed either 
from the suggestion of too much natural fear, or a 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 265 

conscience overburdened with crimes of an uncom- 
mon cast. — I thank God this was not the case. 
The scenes of horror exhibited around us, naturally 
awakened such ideas in every thinking breast, and 
aggravated the deformity of every failing of our 
lives. It were a lamentable insensibility indeed, 
not to have had such feelings, — and I think incon- 
sistent with human nature. 

Our distressed helpless condition taught us hu- 
mility and a contempt of ourselves. — The horrors 
of the night — the prospect of an immediate cruel 
death — or, as one may say, of being crushed by the 
Almighty in his anger — filled us with terror. And 
everything that had tended to weaken our interest 
with Him, upbraided us, in the strongest colours, 
with our baseness and folly. — That which, in a 
calm unruffled temper, we call a natural cause, 
seemed then like the correction of the Deity. — Our 
imagination represented him as an incensed master, 
executing vengeance on the crimes of his servants. 

— The father and benefactor were forgot, and in 
that view, a consciousness of our guilt filled us with 
despair. 

But see, the Lord relents — he hears our prayers 

— the Lightning ceases — the winds are appeased 



266 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

— the warring elements are reconciled, and all 
things promise peace. — The darkness is dispelled 

— and drooping nature revives at the approaching 
dawn. Look back, Oh, my soul — look back and 
tremble. — Rejoice at thy deliverance, and humble 
thyself in the presence of thy deliverer. 

Yet hold. Oh, vain mortal! — check thy ill-timed 
joy. Art thou so selfish as to exult because thy 
lot is happy in a season of universal woe ? — Hast 
thou no feelings for the miseries of thy fellow- 
creatures, and art thou incapable of the soft pangs 
of sympathetic sorrow ? — Look around thee and 
shudder at the view. — See desolation and ruin 
wherever thou turnest thine eye. See thy fellow- 
creatures pale and lifeless ; their bodies mangled 

— their souls snatched into eternity — unexpecting 

— alas ! perhaps unprepared ! — Hark the bitter 
groans of distress — see sickness and infirmities 
exposed to the inclemencies of wind and water 

— see tender infancy pinched with hunger and 
hanging to the mother's knee for food! — see the 
unhappy mother's anxiety — her poverty denies 
relief — her breast heaves with pangs of mater- 
nal pity — her heart is bursting — the tears gush 
down her cheeks — Oh sights of woe ! Oh distress 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 267 

unspeakable! — my heart bleeds — but I have no 
power to solace ! — Oh ye, who revel in affluence, 
see the afflictions of humanity, and bestow your 
superfluity to ease them. — Say not, we have suf- 
fered also, and with-hold your compassion. What 
are your sufferings compared to these? Ye have 
still more than enough left. — Act wisely. — Suc- 
cour the miserable and lay up a treasure in 
Heaven. 

I am afraid, sir, you will think this description 
more the effort of imagination, than a true picture 
of realities. But I can affirm with the greatest 
truth, that there is not a single circumstance 
touched upon which I have not absolutely been 
an eye-witness to. 

Our General has several very salutary and hu- 
man regulations, and both in his public and pri- 
vate measures has shown himself the man. 



Extract from the Common Records of Nevis, 1725- 
1746. Page 429 

To all to whom these presents shall come John 
Fawcett of the Island of Nevis Planter Sendeth 
Greeting. 



270 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Whereas diverse disputes and controversies have 
arisen and been between the said John Fawcett and 
Mary Fawcett his wife touching and concerning the 
maintenance of the said Mary separate and apart 
from her said husband And Whereas the said 
Mary did lately apply herself unto His Excellency 
William Matthew Esquire Chancellor and Ordinary 
in Chief for the Leeward Charribbee Islands to be 
relieved against the said John Fawcett and His 
Excellency on the Petition of the said Mary did 
issue out a writ of Supplicavit for making a Pro- 
vision Maintenance for the said Mary And Whereas 
since the issuing out of the said writ they the said 
John Fawcett and Mary Fawcett have mutually 
agreed to live separate and apart from each other 
durins: the residue of their lives And Whereas she 
the said Mary Fawcett hath joined with the said 
John Fawcett in the absolute sale of divers pieces 
or parcels of land and other tenements which he the 
said John was in possession of some in right of the 
said Mary and others in right of the said John in 
which she could at the death of the said John have 
claimed a dower or third part And Whereas the 
said Mary in lieu of the said dower or third part 
hath accepted of the Bond or Obligation of William 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 271 

Maynard of Nevis aforesaid Esq"^- for the payment 
of the sum of Fifty and three pounds four shillings 
current money annually during her life for her 
separate maintenance and allowance as a full satis- 
faction of all her Dower or third part of the Estates 
of the said John Fawcett both real and personal 
which he shall be possessed of at the time of his 
death. Now Know Ye that the said John Fawcett 
in consideration of the said Mary Fawcett's accept- 
ance of the said yearly sum of Fifty and three 
pounds four shillings and for diverse and other good 
causes and considerations him thereunto moving 
Hath remised released and for ever quitt claimed 
and by these presents Doth for himself his heirs 
exors. and admors. remise release and for ever quit 
claim unto the said Mary Fawcett her heirs exors. 
and admors. all his Right Tytle interest property 
reversion claim and demand whatsoever which he 
might could or may hereafter be intituled unto of 
in and to all or any part or parcell of, the Estates 
either real or personall which she the said Mary 
Fawcett may be intituled unto or is in possession of 
or which she shall or may at any time hereafter be 
intitled unto or be in possession of either in her 
lifetime or at the day of her death or any person or 



2 72 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

persons in trust for her the said Mary Fawcett. 
And Further the said John Fawcett doth hereby 
for himself his heirs executors and administrators 
covenant and agree with the said Mary Fawcett her 
heirs exors. and admors. that he the said John 
Fawcett his heirs exors. and admors. shall not at any 
time hereafter vex sue implead or cause or promise 
to be sued vexed or impleaded the said Mary Fawcett 
her heirs exors. or admors. for or on account of any 
goods chattels lands or tenements which she the 
said Mary Fawcett shall be possessed of in her life- 
time or any person or persons in trust for her. In 
Witness Whereof the said John Fawcett hath 
hereunto set his hand and seal the fifth day of Feb- 
ruary in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and forty and in the fourteenth year of the 
reign of King George the Second. 

Sealed and delivered 
in the presence of John Fawcett. 

George Webbe senior. 

James Dasent. 

George Webbe jun. 

Note. — Captain Ramsing, in searching the archives in Copen- 
hagen for me, has found that Levine's name was spelt in the following 
different ways, varying doubtless with the education of the clerks : 



A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 273 

Johan Michael Lavien, Johan Michael Lawien, Johan Michael Lewien, 
Johan Michael Levin, John Michael Lewin. Captain Ramsing tells me 
that the oldest form, Lawien, is probably the correct one ; and it was 
probably anglicised by Hamilton into Lavine, as the " w " would be 
pronounced " v." On the Islands I found it spelt variously : Lavion, 
Levine, Le Vine. "Johan" indicates Danish or German origin. 

I am also informed that Levine or Lawien probably was a Jew by 
birth, but must have changed his religion — perhaps when he married 
Rachael ? — or he would have been written down in the records : 
" Levine the Jew." 

All the names to be found in the records vary quite as much in the 
spelling as Levine's. — Ed. 



The Following are Specimens of the News- 
paper Verse and Schoolboy Doggerel 
WHICH the Death of Hamilton Inspired 



ON THE DEATH OF HAMILTON 

Oh ! woe betide ye, Aaron Burr ! 

My mickle curse upo' ye sa' ! 
Ye've kill'd as brave a gentleman 

As e'er liv'd in America. 



Wi' bloody mind ye ca'd him out, 
Wi' practic'd e'e did on him draw, 

And wi' deliberate, murderous aim, 
Ye kill'd the flower o' America. 

A nobler heart, an abler head. 
Nor this, nor any nation saw ; 

He was his Country's hope and pride, 
The darling of America. 

275 



2 76 A FEW OF HAMILTON'S LETTERS 

Wha now, like him, wi' temper'd fire, 

His country's " sword will strongly draw"; 

And, 'mid the furious onset, spare 
The vanquish'd foes o' America ? 

Wha now, like him, wi' honest zeal, 

Will argue in the Senate ha'. 
And lighten wi' his genius rays. 

The interests of America? 

Mild, mild was he, o' tenderest heart, 
Kind and sincere without a flaw ; 

A loving husband, father, friend ; 
And oh ! he lov'd America. 

Torn by a murderer's desperate arm 
Frae midst his friends and family a', 

He's gone — the first of men is gone — 
The glory of America ! 

Where'er ye go, O Aaron Burr! 

The worm of conscience ay will gnaw ; 
Your haunted fancy ay will paint 

Your bloody deed in America. 



A FEW OF HAiMILTON'S LETTERS 277 

But though ye flee o'er land and sea, 
And 'scape your injur'd country's law, 

The red right hand of angry Heav'n 
Will yet avenge America. 

O save us, Heav'n ! frae faction's rage ; 

Our headstrong passions keep in awe ! 
And frae ambition's hidden arts. 

Good Lord ! preserve America. 



Oh, Aaron Burr, what have you done ? 

You've gone and killed great Hamilton. 
You hid behind a great tall thistle, 

And killed him with a big hoss pistol. 



% 



THE SPLENDID IDLE FORTIES 

STORIES OF OLD CALIFORNIA 
By GERTRUDE ATHERTON 

Author of "The Conqueror," "Senator North," etc* 
Illustrated by Harrison Fisher 
Cloth )2mo $1^0 



" Like all Mrs. Atherton's works, they possess peculiar artistic merit. The 
authoress has that capacity which the author of • Esmond ' possessed beyond 
all other writers, of taking us back as many years as she will, and making us 
live in the old forgotten atmosphere which she re-creates." 

— TAe Sunday Special^ London. 

" Instinct with the vigor which we have so long learned to associate with 
Mrs. Atherton's outcome." — The Globe, London. 

" Mrs. Atherton has brilliant descriptive ability and power in characteriza- 
tion more virile than that of any other American woman of letters." 

— Boston Advertiser. 

" Mrs. Atherton has a subject full of color, and she transports this color to 
her pages. The stories are so many pictures of various phases of California 
life. In some of them the gallant officers of the American navy appear, and 
win the hearts of seiioritas and sefioras; in others the personages are entirely 
Spanish. It is no wonder that Californians look upon Mrs. Atherton as the 
best social historian of their state; for no other so vivid pictures of those 
days exist as in these pages. They have color, humor, dramatic force ; they 
are among the best short stories this country has produced." 

— Buffalo Express. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 Fifth Avenue New York 



THE CONQUEROR 



Comments of the Press 

" The exuberant imagination of the writer and her flow of beautiful 
language furnish opening scenes for the book which hold the reader 
spellbound." — Philadelphia Times. 

"Brilliant and elevated in tone, and written throughout with a 
profound psychological insight." — Boston Budget. 

"Admirable indeed is her impartiality, her adherence to historic 
truth." — New York Mail and Express. 

" There is something at once surprising and delightful in the im- 
perious hold which 'The Conqueror' takes upon the reader. It is a 
long book, but its compacted and exhaustive knowledge of the whole 
revolutionary period is luminous at every point with literary sparkle 
and latent enthusiasm." — Chicago Record Herald. 

" A composite yet a splendid picture." — New York Herald. 

" Holds more romance than nine-tenths of the imaginative fiction 
of the day, and more veracity than ninety-nine hundredths of the his- 
tories. She is master of her material, and her style, rich and picturesque, 
is the worthy vehicle of a story of this man." — New York Times. 

"In 'The Conqueror' Mrs. Atherton has made a literary experi- 
ment striking in its novelty." — The Critic. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 Fifth Avenue New York 



THF rONOT IFROR ?*'"» *''« ^'^"^ «"<! Romantic 
1 nc ^KJl^K^yj rJWJI^ story of Alexander Hamilton 

By GERTRUDE ATHERTON, Author of "Senator North ' 
"The Californians," etc. Cloth, i2mo, $i.r . 

" Among the notable productions of the year must be reckoned Mi ' 
Gertrude Atherton's brilliant character novel. In intellectual grasp, virilit 
and compelling interest this fearless author takes front rank." 

— Providence Telegrar 

"Till now there has arisen neither man nor woman to do what has bee.. 
done in this exciting narrative of an exciting life . . . permeated with tho 
passionate brain vitality of a woman who can write as well as think." 

— Standard Union, Brooklyn. 

" It may start a revolution in the methods of our historical novelists, li 
is a composite yet a splendid picture." — New York Herald. 



OT FilnTlHT r» A Kentucky Tale of 
\J\^\Jr\.rAAJ the Last Century 

By NANCY HUSTON BANKS Cloth, i2mo, $1.50 

" The new century is so young that we expect a historical romance of 
the dark and bloody ground ; instead we have a simple tale of the days just 
before the war, with people so quaint and delightful that they might have 
lived in Cranford instead of Kentucky." — The Sun. 



BRINTON ELIOT 5^Xo\.t*** 

By JAMES FARMER, Author of "The Grenadier," "The 
Grand Mademoiselle," etc. Cloth, i2mo, $1.50 

" Bright, full of incident, has a well-developed plot, and its delineations 
of character are worthy of praise." — Pioneer Press. 



THE LATE RETURNING 

By MARGERY WILLIAMS Cloth, i6mo, $1.25 

" It is a clever and brilliant story written with unusual skill." 

— The Nashville American. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

66 Fifth Avenue New York 



3 



